


Season 4

by FinnHudsonGlee



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:22:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 51
Words: 121,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28564218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FinnHudsonGlee/pseuds/FinnHudsonGlee
Summary: So, Season 3 of Cobra Kai is now on Netflix. This fic is what would happen in Season 4, in my opinion. The fic is mainly based around Miguel and Robby, but also goes deep into the perspectives of every other major character like Sam, Hawk, Johnny, Daniel, Kreese, etc.Miguel/Sam; Robby/Tory; Miguel & Johnny; Robby & Kreese; Daniel & Sam; many other couples and relationships
Relationships: Amanda LaRusso/Daniel LaRusso, Carmen Diaz (Cobra Kai)/Johnny Lawrence, Daniel LaRusso & Johnny Lawrence, Miguel Diaz & Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, Miguel Diaz & Johnny Lawrence, Miguel Diaz/Samantha LaRusso, Robby Keene & John Kreese, Robby Keene/Tory
Comments: 776
Kudos: 220





	1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this starts DIRECTLY after the end of Cobra Kai Season 3, which y'all can watch on Netflix if you haven't already**

"So, how's this going to work?" Demitri asked, as the two combined dojos stood side-by-side in the Miyagi Do backyard. Their dramatic entrance had worn off, so now they were onto actually sorting stuff out. They had a lot to discuss and compromise on if they wanted this team-up to work. After all, Johnny and Daniel spent decades HATING each others' guts so they weren't about to just bury the hatchet in one day. "Are we like all one happy dojo now, or…"

"Hey, nobody said happy!" Johnny snapped. His head was still spinning from the events of the night before. Not only had Kreese practically waged war on them, but he had recruited Johnny's own son to fight for him. On top of that, Johnny was teaming up with his arch nemesis in this fight that Kreese had declared on them.

"Sensei, shut up." Miguel laughed. "Demitri poses a good point. Are we just going to learn from each other and then split up again, or are we going into the All-Valley and fighting as one combined dojo?"

"Well, what do you guys think?" Daniel asked them. Sam, Demitri, Hawk, Nate, Bert, Mitch and Chris all voted for a permanent team, but surprisingly, the rest of the Miyagi-Dos all voted for a temporary alliance and then split. It was around a 50/50 vote at that point.

"Miguel, what about you? Permanent team, or split?" Demitri asked. Miguel shrugged.

"I mean, I think that teaming up whether it's just for a short while or it's a permanent thing is going to be really beneficial. You are both clearly the best senseis in the Valley, and we'd be stupid not to take advantage of that."

"So, you vote to make a permanent team?" Bert asked. Miguel shook his head.

"At the end of the day, and no disrespect intended, Mr. Larusso as I have no idea what it's like to be your student, but I'm going to be following Sensei Lawrence whichever way he chooses to go." Miguel said. "So, up to you, Sensei."

"Johnny? Can we bury the hatchet and " Daniel asked, secretly hoping that Johnny would stick with them. He knew how dangerous Kreese's Cobras were getting and knew that, especially with Robby, the only chance Johnny and Daniel possibly had of winning the All-Valley was if they worked together. Johnny sighed

"Okay, but if we're going to team up, we can't be 'Miyagi-Do.' There's no way in hell my students and I are joining your form of karate." Johnny stated. Daniel nodded.

"Fine, but we're not joining 'Eagle-Fang' either." Daniel replied.

"This is good. We can build our own dojo and karate style. Together." Sam stated.

"Yeah. Both karate styles have their positive and benefits so we can take the best of both worlds." Miguel agreed. "That already gives us an upper hand against Kreese. He doesn't have that luxury."

"So what are we calling the dojo? How long did it take you to come up with a masterpiece like 'Eagle-Fang.'" Daniel remarked, sarcastically.

"Hey, my dojo names are badass!" Johnny snapped. "Tell him, Miguel!"

"Well, I mean, you did want to originally call Eagle-Fang, KKK so…" Miguel pointed out. Everyone laughed and Johnny glared at Miguel.

"Miguel, shut up." Johnny snapped. Miguel laughed and rolled his eyes.

You know, I think I could get on board with using an animal as the dojo name, but it can't be something ruthless like a cobra." Daniel said. "Any ideas, guys?" He asked the group.

"What about Hawk-Do?" Hawk suggested, grinning. Everyone turned and glared at him, before turning back to Daniel.

"What about Fire-Do?" Mitch suggested.

"Nah, nah, nah. That's too much like Cobra Kai." Chris replied. "How about Ice-Do?"

"Too much like Miyagi-Do." Mitch shot back.

"Well, we could always meet in the middle?" Nate suggested.

"What, like, you mean Puddle-do?" Miguel asked, confused.

"No, not literally." Nate said. "I mean like in between Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do. An animal that doesn't necessarily strike first ruthlessly, but when it does strike, it strikes HARD."

"What do you suggest, Nate?" Daniel asked, now intrigued.

"How about lions?" Nate replied. "They don't meanlessly start fights, but when they do, they're extremely powerful. They're brave, they're strong, they're smart."

"How about Lionheart dojo?" Miguel suggested, thinking about the awesome Martial Arts movie. "It illustrates bravery, strength, all of it."

"Works for me." Daniel said. "Any objections?"

"It does sound pretty badass." Johnny admitted. Daniel nodded.

"All right. Well, name's out the way." Daniel said, encouragingly.

"Yeah, only took us like half an hour." Demitri remarked.

"This is the problem. Our styles are so different. It's impossible to compromise on even just the name, let alone fighting tactics." Mitch stated. Daniel shook his head.

"No. We will make this work. We have to…"

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"Life isn't always fair. Sometimes the world can be cruel. And that's why you have to learn to be cruel yourselves."

Kreese was standing at the front of the slightly depleted Cobra Kai dojo. They had lost even more members after the lost fight at the Larusso house, and Kreese was NOT happy.

"Weakness is unacceptable. The fight at the Larusso house was an embarrassment!" He shouted. "You lost soldiers and you lost the battle. But you will not lose again. Kyler! Step onto the mat!"

Kyler grinned and jumped onto the mat, hopping from foot to foot and smirking in delight.

"Oooh. Who's about to get their ass kicked?!" Kyler exclaimed, eyeing the group.

"Keene. Step onto the mat." Kreese continued. Kyler's smile quickly faded as a livid looking Robby walked onto the mat and faced him. Anger coursed through Robby's veins. It was the only emotion he had felt since he joined Cobra Kai. But he was fine with that. The rage fueled him. Every day, under Kreese's tutelage, Robby was getting stronger and stronger, preparing himself for his inevitable beatdown against Miguel. Their fight was inevitable, just like that of Tory and Sam, and Hawk and Kyler. But Robby was prepared for it. He was not going to let Miguel go home a winner. Not for a third time.

"Kyler. Is it true that you lost in a fight against a student who could barely use his legs as he was still partially paralysed?" Kreese asked, calmly. Kyler's face went bright red.

"Sensei, you gotta understand. 'Rhea was like a champion, right, so like…" Kyler stammered.

"Yes, Kyler, he _was_ a champion. But then he picked the wrong fight and broke his back. You lost to someone who wasn't even fighting with a quarter of their full capacity."

"Sensei, I'm sorry." Kyler muttered, staring down at the ground in shame.

"Don't apologise. It just means you have… room for learning." Kreese said. He then handed Robby a pair of nunchucks, who grasped them tightly and started prowling towards a retreating Kyler.

"READY… FIGHT!" Kreese shouted, and Robby lunged…

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"So, what did you think of training today?" Sam asked Miguel that night, as they walked out of the Miyagi-Do dojo together. Miguel scoffed.

"What training? Johnny won't let me do any training." Miguel grumbled. Although Miguel was technically a member of the new Lionheart Dojo and he still loved and respected his sensei, the All Valley tournament was a massive bone of contention between them. Johnny had put his foot down and banned Miguel from competing in the All Valley tournament, despite the fact that it was only January and the All Valley was in June. Johnny knew the level of Cobras like Robby, and he knew that Kreese would be training them to fight dirty, so he didn't want to risk Miguel injuring himself further.

"It's for your own good, Miguel." Sam said. "He doesn't want you to get hurt."

Miguel groaned.

"Not you too." Miguel grumbled.

"Miguel, I'm serious!" Sam exclaimed. "The last thing any of us want is for you to be back in that hospital bed."

"The thing is I'm a lot stronger now than I was when Sensei Lawrence first started training me. Hell, not to sound like an ass, but I could probably beat half the kids in the dojo today!" Miguel snapped.

"I mean, Miguel, you can't possibly believe that the level Nate and Bert are fighting at is the same level as Robby and Tory. Robby and Tory… they're not going to stop at the win."

"Look, I completely get that." Miguel said. "But I also know that Robby and Kyler are never going to stop hunting after me, and I need to be allowed to train if I ever want to be able to face them again!"

"That's why you have us, though. We've got your back. Someone tries to hurt you, I'll kick their ass!" Sam declared. Miguel chuckled and kissed his girlfriend.

"My hero." He laughed as he kissed her. "But that's not the point. Point is I can't have other people fighting my battles for the rest of my life. The world isn't always going to be fair, or merciful, but it's what I do to combat it that matters. Sensei Lawrence is the one who taught me that, for God Sake! And now he's banning me from even training with contact, let alone fighting! Look, I'm sorry I'm talking your ear off. It just sucks, that's all."

Sam took his hands in her own and kissed him.

"Babe, I'm always here for you." She said. "And hey, if I have to fight Robby or Kyler in the All Valley, I'll make sure to give them an extra punch or kick from you."

Miguel laughed.

"Thanks. Anyways, see you tomorrow morning." He said, before getting on his bike and taking off towards his house. Once he was gone, Johnny stepped out from the trees he was hiding behind. He heard everything Miguel said to Sam, and he clenched his jaw. He knew, despite his better judgement, that Miguel needed to start training again. If he didn't restart now, he probably never would again…

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"Sensei, can I talk to you?" Robby asked, as he knocked on the door to Sensei Kreese's office.

"Come in, my son." Kreese said, and Robby stepped inside. "What can I do for you? The first aid kit is behind the lockers if Kyler needs it."

"No, that's not it. I mean, he does definitely need it. There's a lot of blood. But that's not what I'm talking about." Robby said.

"Oh, then what?" Kreese asked, speaking in a tone that was different to how Johnny and Daniel spoke to Robby. It was almost… kind. Like he didn't care more about the karate rivalry than about him, which was what mainly drove him away from Johnny multiple times.

"I have some… friends of mine who I could convince into joining Cobra Kai." Robby said. Kreese raised an eyebrow.

"Really? And are these the same friends who gave you the black eye in juvie?" Kreese asked, understanding Robby instantly. Another thing about Kreese that Robby liked more than both Johnny and Daniel. Kreese understood him in a way that neither of the two other men could understand.

"Yes, yes they are. Recently out of juvie." Robby nodded.

"Well, what makes you think they'd be good potential Cobras?" Kreese asked. Robby took a deep breath.

"Because they understand pain. And anger. And misery. They know how cruel the world can be in a way that the Diaz cunt, the Larusso bitch, hell any of the Miyagi-Do students, would never understand. They all live in their bubble, while me, Tory and these other guys are stuck eating shit. With the right training, I know that they would be the key to taking down Miyagi-Do once and for all."

Kreese looked at Robby and his face broke out in an evil grin.

"You what I like about you, Keene?" Kreese said. "You see the world in a way that no one else your age sees it. You don't see roads, and cars, and buildings, and house. You see a battlefield, and that makes you the only one not blind enough to avoid the landmines. You would make an excellent soldier, Mr. Keene."

"Thank you, Sensei." Robby said, smiling faintly. Once again, genuine praise was something that Robby had not gotten from Johnny or Daniel. Whenever Daniel praised him, it was always that 'we're one step closer to taking down Cobra Kai.' But when Kreese complimented him, even if his endgame was to take down Miyagi-Do, it was actually genuine.

"Call your friends." Kreese said. "Tell them they are welcome to come by the dojo and train tomorrow afternoon. In fact, I have a… special friend of mine coming too, hopefully to become Co-Sensei. Big changes, Keene my dear boy. Are you ready?"

"Damn right, I am." Robby replied, clenching his jaw and then leaving the office. Once he was out, he pulled out his mobile phone and dialled a number.

"Hello?" The person said as he answered the phone.

"Shawn. It's Robby." Robby said as he answered the phone. "I have a proposition for you…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Miguel's perspective for this chapter**

"QUIET!" Johnny shouted the next morning, as the new Lionheart dojo stood on the deck of a boat that Johnny had rented out on the lake, with Daniel's money of course. It was their first day of training, and Daniel and Johnny had decided to alternate days of each of them teaching the class. Today was Johnny's day, tomorrow was Daniel's, etc. The group immediately shut up when Johnny's commanding bark sliced through the air, and Johnny pulled out a pile of zipties. Miguel chuckled. He knew exactly what Johnny was going to make the group do.

"So, Miyagi-Do may have balance and that crap, but it also makes a bunch of weak-ass bitches."

"Watch it, Johnny." Daniel warned.

"Dad, to be fair, didn't you say that when you were in Cobra Kai, you felt physically stronger than you ever did in Miyagi-Do?" Sam pointed out. Johnny turned to Daniel and raised an eyebrow.

" _You_ were in Cobra Kai?" Johnny asked, laughing. "How did that work out?"

"Ok, just get on with the drill." Daniel snapped, as Johnny laughed at him.

"Anyways!" Johnny shouted, snapping back to seriousness. "Cobra Kai, when taught properly, builds strength! Determination! It takes the pussiness out of you. Because you don't want to be a pussy! You want to have balls!"

"Does he always talk like this?" Sam whispered to Miguel, slightly offensive by Johnny's genderising language. Miguel chuckled.

"No, this is relatively tame. Normally, it's a lot worse." He replied. Sam face-palmed and they turned their attention back to Johnny.

"It teaches you how when the world wants to sink you, to keep your head out of the water. And today, you're going to be doing that literally! I'm going to tie these zip ties around your hands and legs, and each of you are going to strap on a 20 pound weight belt."

Miguel raised an eyebrow. That was new. Normally, whenever Sensei Lawrence would tie both arms and legs up, he wouldn't incorporate the weight belt.

"So what exactly are we doing?" Chris asked. Johnny smirked.

"Well, better I show you then tell you. Mr. Diaz! You've done this drill before. Why don't you demonstrate? Show them how it's done?" Johnny said. Assuming that Johnny wouldn't let him do the drill, Miguel's head shot up in surprise.

"Wait what?" Miguel stammered. "I thought I wasn't training."

"Ha! Even you need training, Diaz, if you want to win the All Valley." Johnny said, grinning faintly at him. Miguel smiled widely. Finally! He was allowed to start training again! However, his smile quickly faded as he realized what his sensei was asking him to do. Last time he had done this drill, it was in a relatively shallow pool, so even though Miguel ended up passing out, Johnny could easily pull him out of the water and help him out. However, now, they were in the middle of the lake so if he had a weight belt attached to his waist, he was sinking further than Johnny could control. In addition, the last time Miguel did this was right before the All-Valley, so it was when he was at his strongest.

"Come on, Diaz! We don't have all day!" Johnny said. Miguel nodded and walked towards him and immediately, Johnny started tying the zip ties around his students limbs.

"Sensei, is this a good idea?" Miguel asked as Johnny tightened the cuffs around Miguel's hands.

"You need this drill more than anyone, Diaz! You need to strengthen your leg muscles ASAP." Johnny said.

"I know, but isn't this a bit too much too soon?" Miguel asked. "I mean, I just regained movement in my legs…"

"Hey, you were the one who begged me to let you train!" Johnny pointed out. Miguel sighed as Johnny tightened the cuffs around Miguel's legs.

"Fair point." Miguel murmured. "But if I die, it's on you."

"Wait, die? What the hell are you going to do, Johnny?!" Daniel snapped. Johnny ignored him and kept his attention to Miguel.

"Relax, drama queen! You're not going to die. Probably" Johnny said. Miguel glared at him and Johnny chuckled. He leaned in and murmured the next part quietly in Miguel's ear as he attached the weight belt to his student. "I brought you to that All-Valley final last year. So help me God I'm going to do it again."

Miguel nodded, determined, at his sensei. After he had been completely tied up, Johnny helped Miguel stand up on the edge of the boat.

"Wait, Johnny, balancing on the edge of a boat? This is a Miyagi-Do drill." Daniel said, impressed. Miguel and Johnny looked at each other, and Johnny chuckled.

"Not quite, Larusso." Johnny said, before pushing Miguel off the edge of the boat and into the water. Everyone's eyes widened and they rushed to the edge of the boat. Miguel had sunk beneath the surface already, and the only sign of him was the thin stream of bubbles floating to the top of the water.

"WHAT THE HELL, JOHNNY?!" Daniel shouted. "YOU'RE GONNA KILL HIM!"

"He's fine." Johnny muttered, quietly. He hoped to God Miguel would be okay. Truth is Johnny knew how far to push Miguel last year, as he was around about as strong as Miguel when he first joined Cobra Kai himself. However, after the school fight and the injury, Johnny had no idea what was too much or too little.

"Pull him out!" Daniel exclaimed, preparing to jump into the water and try and drag Miguel out before he fell too deep.

"Stop." Johnny growled. "He's not gonna die. He's _my_ student."

"I don't give a shit that he's your student!" Daniel spat, shoving Johnny's hand off of him. "He's gonna die! I'm getting him out of there!"

Daniel once again started towards the edge of the boat but before he could get there, Johnny dragged him back and the two squared up to each other.

"You wanna fight?!" Daniel shouted, preparing for a fight. Johnny smirked and raised his hands.

"Bring it on." He growled. However, just as Johnny was about to swing at Daniel, Sam and Hawk stepped in between them, and Sam held her dad back and Hawk held Johnny back.

"GUYS, STOP!" Sam shouted, looking extremely nervously at the water behind the boat. The thin stream of bubbles that indicated Miguel's breathing was steadily getting narrower as more time went on. It had been nearly 30 seconds by now, and there was no telling how deep underwater Miguel was. "We need to get Miguel out of there!"

Johnny walked over to Daniel, and he glared down at him.

"You want to make an alliance? You trust me, especially when it comes to that kid." Johny growled, before walking back to the edge of the boat. Daniel and Sam looked at each other, anxious. Although Johnny clearly had faith in Miguel, Daniel and Sam were skeptical.

"20 more seconds. 20 more seconds and we're going down there." Daniel snapped. Johnny scowled at him and looked down at the water.

"Come on, kid. You got this." Johnny murmured quietly. Meanwhile, Miguel was still thrashing and struggling underwater. He could feel himself sinking deeper and deeper, but he was powerless to stop. His legs weren't strong enough.

NO!

Miguel closed his eyes and the All-Valley fight came back to his head. He imagined every punch and every kick he threw in the whole tournament, and every punch/kick, Miguel kicked his legs in a dolphin motion. He imagined the fight against Robby, the fight against Xander, the fight when he used the crane kick. Kick! Kick! Kick! So many kicks in the tournament meant so many kicks underwater. Soon, he was steadily moving upwards again, and before long, just as black spots danced upon his eyes, he broke the surface of the water, gasping and spluttering. Johnny immediately dragged him back onto the boat to safety, and he untied the cuffs and belt. He then smirked triumphantly at Daniel, before turning to Miguel.

"You good, kid?" He asked. Miguel, who was still panting for breath, nodded.

"Yup. That was easy. What's next…"

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Over the course of the coming weeks, the friction between the Miyagi-Dos and the Eagle-Fangs lessened considerably. They all trained together, and the Eagle-Fangs had all immediately warmed to Daniel's methods of teaching. Well, almost all of them. Daniel could tell that Miguel was skeptical of Miyagi-Do's methods, and didn't trust him very much. He didn't say it out loud - Miguel was a very polite and courteous person out loud - Daniel could sense his mistrust easily. Every time Daniel asked them to do a drill or exercise, Miguel always looked at Johnny for confirmation, before complying. Miguel's hesitation when it came to Daniel's side of training, also splashed onto one person: Hawk. Hawk and Miguel were practically brothers with the amount of time they spent together, so when Miguel was hesitant, Hawk was also hesitant. When one of them finally warmed up to Daniel, they would probably convince the other to do the same. It was just a matter of time.

One night, Daniel had allowed Johnny and Miguel to use the Miyagi-Do dojo after training, so Johnny and Miguel were doing some boxing training, as Daniel watched from inside the house. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around to see his beautiful wife, Amanda.

"Hey, honey." Daniel smiled as he kissed his wife.

"Hey, I heard you were working late here tonight so I brought you this." Amanda said, handing him a cup of coffee. Daniel took it gratefully, and Amanda looked out the window that Daniel was looking out of, and saw Miguel and Johnny goofing around with over-sized boxing gloves and swinging at each other.

"You gotta admit, those two do make a good team." Amanda said, pointing at the two. Daniel nodded and sighed.

"Yeah. I just wish Miguel trusted me as much as he trusts Johnny." Daniel said. Amanda looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked. So Daniel told her what he had noticed, and at the end, Amanda chuckled.

"What?" Daniel asked.

"Well, I think you need to remember something. Miguel isn't just another student for Johnny. They are practically father and son. Miguel was his first student, and from what I heard, helped him turn his whole life around. He's obviously going to be loyal to Johnny, no matter which way the man turns. But the same is true on the other side. It's not like Sam is 100% on board with Johnny's teachings."

"True." Daniel nodded.

But he knew that he needed Miguel and Hawk to be on-board with his teachings if they wanted to win the All-Valley. Daniel, Johnny, and pretty much every student knew that if one of them won, it would be Sam, Hawk, and if he was healthy, Miguel. Having none of the three completely on-board with both sides of the dojo was dangerous.

"I guess it will just take time." Daniel said. Amanda nodded.

"Yeah, but I mean, you could always speed it up." Amanda remarked. Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Show him some of that Miyagi magic. He's been pitted against you by Johnny for so long. The only Miyagi-Do student he has ever faced in a fight has been Robby, and you know how that ended. Show him that Miyagi-Do isn't about that. Show him what Miyagi-Do is really all about…"

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"Mr. Larusso, what are we doing here?" Miguel asked. Daniel had asked to meet him at the lake extremely early the next morning, and they had gone out into the lake on a small wooden boat.

"Fishing." Daniel replied, taking out two rods. Miguel raised an eyebrow as Daniel handed one to him.

"Fishing?" He asked.

"Yup. The trick to fishing out here is to get the line into the deep water, away from the boat. It's all in the cast." Daniel said, casting his rod perfectly. "You try it. Get your shoulders back, bend your elbows, let it fly."

Miguel then casted the rod really nicely out into the lake.

"Good. Good. That was pretty good." Daniel said, impressed.

"Now what?" Miguel asked.

"Now we wait." Daniel said, relaxing in the boat. Miguel chuckled.

"You know, I gotta say. This is very different to the last time we were out here." Miguel said, thinking about Johnny's training from a week before. Daniel nodded.

"Yeah, that training was… unique." Daniel stated. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Miguel replied.

"Why did you choose to stick with Johnny's karate for so long? There are plenty of karate dojos in the Valley. Why didn't you switch to one of them after being forced to do Johnny's insane drills?"

Miguel shrugged.

"Hey, if the drills work, they work." Miguel replied. Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"Come on. What's the real answer?" Daniel asked. Miguel sighed.

"I mean, when I first moved here, I was getting bullied. Kyler and those guys were whaling on me one night when Johnny, the hostile neighbor I had just met that morning, fought them all off."

"He fought off four guys for someone he had never met?" Daniel asked, slightly impressed by Johnny. Miguel laughed.

"Well, kinda. He watched me get beat up for a good minute, and he only got involved when I got thrown against his car." Miguel said. Daniel laughed.

"Yeah, that sounds more like Johnny." Daniel agreed. "But after he put you through all of those insane drills like the one he did last week, did you ever consider quitting?"

Miguel shook his head.

"Well, first off, the water drill last week is actually pretty tame by Sensei Lawrence's standard. He's put me through much worse." Miguel said. "But I would never quit. The drills only make me stronger. And besides, I know and I trust that Sensei Lawrence knows exactly how far to push me to get maximum benefits. So so what if I pass out once or twice? Or dislocate my shoulder or knee? Or get lit on fire? Or bit by a snake? I'm not going to die."

"You got bit by a snake?!" Daniel exclaimed. Miguel shrugged.

"Non-venomous snake." He replied. "Long story. Anyways, I trust Sensei Lawrence with my life, and he's always come through for me. He taught me how to walk again after I got paralysed, by his own son no less. He is my best friend in the world. But he's more than that. He's like a father to me."

"But isn't his personality, and I mean this with no disrespect intended, a bad influence?"

Miguel shook his head, furiously.

"No. He's not a bad influence. Despite what people say, and despite what he may seem like on the outside, he's a good person."

Daniel nodded, interested in getting to know Miguel even further. Hopefully, if he learned more about Miguel, Miguel would gain more trust in him.

"Yeah, and when I was at my worst point as a person last year, and I was Kreese's star student, Sensei called me out on it. He learned from his own experiences with Cobra Kai and taught me to show mercy."

"You were Kreese's star student?" Daniel asked, surprised. "No offense but compared to people like Tory, you don't seem like it."

Miguel laughed.

"None taken at all." He replied. "Yeah, I was all-in with Kreese's No Mercy scheme. I had just broken up with Sam. I had gone through the exact thing, if I'm not mistaken, that you and Sensei Lawrence went through in High School with Ali.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked, confused.

"Well, Sam and I were in kind of a rough patch in our relationship. I then saw her repeatedly flirting with Robby, holding hands with him, all of that. I blew my top. Overreacted. Tried to settle things with fists rather than words. Although, unlike Sensei Lawrence, I won the All-Valley but I didn't exactly win…"

"Fairly?" Daniel smirked. "Yeah, I know."

"No, I wouldn't say that." Miguel shook his head, choosing his next words extremely wisely. "I won the fight fairly. I didn't break any rules. I didn't injure Robby, Hawk did. And targeting that injury was just intelligent fighting. I won fairly, but I didn't win honorably. I still felt angry about the whole thing, and Kreese took advantage of that. He sunk his teeth into me and drilled that No-Mercy crap into me. If Sensei Lawrence hadn't managed to pull me out in time, I honestly would probably be at Kreese's right hand in the dojo right now, preparing for our next assault on you guys. I owe Sensei Lawrence for that. He taught me the right way of Karate. He never gave up on me. There might be other senseis in the Valley who are just as competent as Sensei Lawrence, but none of them would care about me as much as he does."

Daniel was surprised. He had only ever seen the petty, aggressive side to Johnny, but Miguel had just described a very different side of him. A fatherly, caring side. Before either of them could speak again, there was a sharp tug on Miguel's fishing rod.

"Looks like you caught something." Daniel remarked. "Reel it in."

A minute later, Miguel had reeled in a tiny fish, no bigger than the size of two fingers.

"Wow, that was… anticlimactic." Miguel remarked. Daniel laughed.

"Yeah, that's fishing in a nutshell." Daniel replied. "Now, let's get back to shore…"

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"So, are we heading back now?" Miguel asked as he helped Daniel pack up the car. Daniel shook his head.

"No, not quite yet." Daniel said, and then he reached into the car for something and came out with it moments later. "Here, catch!" He said, tossing Miguel a bo staff. Miguel caught it and raised an eyebrow.

"What's this for?" Miguel asked.

"I thought we could do some training together. The Miyagi-Do way." Daniel said. "Now, show me 'Cast the Rod'."

Huh?" Miguel asked, but before he could ask a follow-up question, Daniel lunged at him with a staff. Miguel instinctually reacted, using the same motion he used to cast the fishing rod to block Daniel's swing, before stepping back with his jaw practically on the ground in shock.

"What the…" Miguel stammered in shock. "What was that?"

"That, Miguel, is Miyagi-Do." Daniel replied. "The art of defense."

The two spent the rest of the afternoon sparring with the bo-staffs and Daniel could tell that by the end, Miguel was starting to warm up to him as a sensei. Daniel also got to know Miguel a lot better as a person. He realised how far away his original opinions of Miguel and Johnny were. Miguel was not Cobra Kai's number 1 asshole. Far from it. And Johnny… although they had their issues in the past, maybe Johnny wasn't that person anymore. Maybe they could actually find a way to be two effective co-senseis. Teammates. And together, if they finally became a unit, the sky's the limit…


	3. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER 3** _

**Kreese's perspective**

War. That's what this was. A full-blown war between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do. And in war, there are always casualties. Families are pitted against each other. Soldiers are injured. But as long as their side comes out on top, that is all that matters. Kreese knew he had the upper hand in this battle though. He had two more ruthless Cobra Kai senseis who would be arriving in the next couple of days, and Robby had promised him a lot of new hardened recruits. Oh, Robby. Kreese loved that student. He was more of a soldier than anyone he had seen in Vietnam. More of a Cobra than anyone he had ever taught. Johnny had come close, but he didn't have the killer instinct that Robby did. All of his Cobras now had that killer instinct. Robby, Tory, even Kyler was starting to develop it. After losing twice to Diaz, Kyler had finally gotten rid of any last hesitation, and he had dived right in with the Cobras. Their side of the battle was complete. It was now up to Miyagi Do to step up in time for the tournament…

Later that day, Cobra Kai training had begun, and Robby's recruits had arrived. Kreese had to say, he was impressed. Robby had really outdone himself this time, in a good way. These recruits were merciless, vicious, everything Kreese wanted in a Cobra. Leading the pack of former juvenile detention teenagers, next to Robby, was a colossal 18 year old named Shawn. He was 6'9, an absolute tank, with enormous muscles. Kreese saw a lot of potential in him, the same potential that his Army Captain had seen in him when Kreese was recruited to special ops in 'Nam. With the right training, Shawn could potentially rival Robby in fighting for the All Valley Championship. In fact, Kreese had four students whose only limit was the sky, and had the potential to be champions: Robby, Tory, Shawn and Kyler.

"There are two parts to the Cobra strike." Kreese instructed his new students and his old students later that day. "The lunge, and the bi…"

Kreese never got to finish his sentence because suddenly, the door to Cobra Kai swung open and in stepped two adults that Kreese never thought he'd see again in his lifetime. Kreese smiled his traditional evil grin and walked over to them. The teenagers were all confused. The adults were both decked in Cobra Kai gis, but not student ones - they were dressed like senseis. But who dared to step up to Kreese and take over as sensei?

"Cobras…" Kreese announced, as all of his soldiers stood at attention as stared at the men, confused. "I'd like to introduce you to your new senseis: Sensei Silver, and Sensei Barnes…"

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**Miguel's Perspective**

Over the next couple of weeks, Kreese's Cobra Kai was quiet. Too quiet. The Miyagi-Dos could tell the Cobras were up to something, but they didn't know what. After all, they rarely saw the Cobras at all - with Robby and Tory expelled from West Valley, Kyler was the only Cobra Kai leader who was in school, and even he knew better than to pick a fight against Sam, Miguel, Hawk, Demitri, Chris, Mitch and all of then others. He would be severely outnumbered and outmatched, even though Miguel was far from firing on all cylinders.

Miguel's training was going decently well. Over and above the group training sessions, Miguel was being given private 1 on 1 sessions with Johnny and with Daniel. Sure this seemed like a good thing on paper - being privately trained by two of the best senseis in the valley was an enviable position for any Karate student in the Valley - but it wasn't. Miguel felt like he was being pulled in two different directions - the Eagle-Fang karate methods and the Miyagi-Do methods. Of course, Miguel's loyalties lay with Johnny, but Daniel's methods had their moments too. He felt like the rivalry between Daniel and Johnny was far from over, but had just been moved underground. He just hoped he wouldn't be pulled so far apart that he would begin to undo.

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"Look at them. Looking all smug like they've already won the fight." Miguel muttered to Hawk, glancing across the field at some of the Cobra Kais as they waited for gym class to start. Miguel, Hawk, Sam, Demitri, Chris and Mitch were all in the same gym class, as well as Kyler, Brucks and a couple of other Cobras that had clearly joined after Miguel left as he didn't recognise them from anywhere other than the fight when they broke into Sam's house.

"Well, they're about to be real disappointed then 'cause there's no way in hell they're winning the All Valley." Hawk replied as he laced up his cleats. "How's your back by the way? You ready to throw down yet? I need a sparring partner! I'm tired of beating up Bert!"

Miguel laughed.

"Soon, man. Soon. Sensei Lawrence and Sensei Larusso have been putting a lot of work into me so I just hope to God I can compete after all. I'm like 50% right now but I know I can do a lot better."

"Why do you train so much with Sensei Larusso?" Hawk asked. "I mean I know he's your girlfriend's dad, but his methods are so pussy! I mean all this defense, no offense crap is fine to an extent, but when someone challenges you to a fight and there's no escaping it, you can't just wait for them to throw the first punch!"

"I agree with you, buddy, and that's why I also have Sensei Lawrence in my corner. Sensei Lawrence might be my mentor, but it would be stupid to have Sensei Larusso available and not take advantage. He did win the All-Valley. Twice. Oh, and he also brought a student to the All-Valley final last year, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, clearly he was an amazing role model. We all know how his student turned out." Hawk growled, clenching his jaw. He still absolutely loathed Robby for what he did to Miguel, more so than even Miguel did. Miguel knew that despite what had happened with Robby before and after the school fight, the kick over the railing had been accidental. Or at least he hoped it was.

"Dude, come on. Robby's just one. There are others. Demitri. Chris. Sam."

"Look, all I'm saying is don't trust him too much." Hawk said. "The man absolutely hates Sensei Lawrence and he's already proven that he'd do anything and everything to take him down. Who knows what he's gonna do now to gain control over Johnny and Kreese, the two people he hates most in the world?"

"Whatever dude. I'll keep it in mind." Miguel chuckled, shrugging off Hawk's warnings. Moments later, they had tied their laces and walked over to the bench of the field, where Sam, Chris, Mitch and Demitri were sitting, glaring at the cocky, overconfident Cobras.

"Look at them. Someone needs to take them down a peg." Sam grumbled. Hawk smirked.

"Funny, Miguel and I were just saying the same thing." Hawk said. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"We were?" Miguel asked. "I just said that they're assholes. I'm not strong enough yet to fight back."

"Are you sure? Because last I checked Robby and Tory aren't here, and you've beaten Kyler in a fight so many times. Besides, we can't fight them. Counselor Blatt will butt in."

"Oh, yeah. Her." Demitri spat, his voice dripping with disdain. He HATED Counselor Blatt.

"So what are we doing?" Miguel asked.

"Well, we could play a dirty, illegal game of soccer like we did last time." Hawk suggested.

"Yeah, and as I recall, that worked out sooooooo well for us last time." Sam remarked, sarcastically, thinking about her storm out from last time.

"True, but last time you guys weren't careful. You idiots straight up kicked us, with the ball nowhere near us. We made our hits a lot more discreet. Why do you think we got off scot-free while you guys were stuck eating shit?" Hawk stated.

"So what do we do?" Chris asked.

"Well, we could 'accidentally' kick the ball straight at them. We could trip them up and twist their ankles as they challenge for the ball. Chris, you as the goalie could come out to punch the ball and 'accidentally' punch the attackers in the head."

"This doesn't seem like a good idea, Hawk. I mean, as proven by last time, none of us are remotely good at soccer."

"Yeah, and last time you didn't have El Serpiente and The Hawk." Hawk declared, confidently. Miguel groaned.

"Could you please stop calling me that? I'm not a Cobra Kai anymore. My name is Miguel."

"Negative, El Serpiente." Hawk grinned. Miguel rolled his eyes and Mitch turned to him.

"Miguel, you're good at soccer?" He asked. Miguel chuckled and shrugged.

"I'm Ecuadorian, bud. Football is less of a sport, more of a religion down there." Miguel replied, as he expertly kicked up a soccer ball and started doing keepy ups with Hawk.

"So, are we doing this?" Sam asked, looking at Miguel for confirmation. Although Miguel didn't want to admit it, he had been made the unofficial leader of the group. They all often looked at him for guidance and affirmation. As Miguel looked over at a hollering Kyler, he clenched his jaw.

"Let's do it…"

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**15 minutes later…**

"Well that was a bad idea." Miguel remarked as they stood outside the Principal's office 15 minutes later. As could be expected, their 'soccer game' had escalated into almost another brawl, but before it could happen, they were all separated and sent to the Principal's office. Although Miguel and Hawk were skilled enough at soccer to not use illegal tactics so would probably not be punished, the others, as well as the Cobra Kais, did not do the same. They were practically throwing punches and kicks at each other when the game was stopped. Moments later, Counselor Blatt stepped out of her office, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Counselor Blatt…" Miguel said, stepping forward before she could say anything. "I just want to say I take responsibility for my friends' part in the game."

Miguel's friends all looked at him, perplexed. Miguel knew that his record was the cleanest out of all of them, and he often got special treatment due to his injury in the school fight, so if anyone were to take the blame, it should be him. Miguel could see Hawk about to step forward and take the blame alongside him, but Miguel discreetly elbowed him in the ribs and stepped on his foot to shut him up.

"I'll take whatever punishment you're dishing out to them. My idea, my problem, my responsibility. And I think that Kyler, their leader, should do the same." Miguel finished, smirking and winking at a furious Kyler. Counsellor Blatt nodded.

"Okay. Miguel, Kyler, my office. The rest of you can go." Counsellor Blatt stated. Kyler glared at Miguel, and Miguel nodded at his grateful-looking friends, before walking into the office. Kyler and Miguel sat side-by-side, their rivalry temporarily forgotten, as they awaited their fate.

"So, how many weeks of detention?" Kyler suddenly asked, rather rudely. Miguel looked at him, and then looked at Counselor Blatt for the answer. She shook her head.

"No. You and your friends have all had rehabilitative detentions and suspensions before. Clearly they haven't done any good. So we're switching up our tactic."

"You could let us go?" Miguel suggested.

"Yeah, you could let us go." Kyler grinned. Counsellor Blatt chuckled.

"Ha. It's not that easy." She remarked. "No. Detention has not been working for you guys, and we believe that it is because you both have a lack of discipline."

"I mean, we both do Karate religiously. That takes discipline." Miguel stated, calmly and politely. Kyler nodded at him.

"I know you both do Karate, and that may well be the problem." Counsellor Blatt said. "I was at the town hall to petition for my new Hugs Not Hits initiative to be used Valley-wide and right before me was the hearing for the All-Valley Karate Tournament. I watched as your teachers…"

"Senseis." Kyler interrupted. "They're called senseis."

Counsellor Blatt blushed and rolled her eyes, and Miguel glared at him. Seriously? Now was not the time.

"Yeah. I saw your _'senseis'_ and I realised that the school fight and all of the ensuing chaos was not your fault. You all have spent so much time with bad influences that it has rubbed off on you."

"Hey! Sensei Lawrence is NOT a bad influence!" Miguel snapped, indignantly. Counsellor Blatt sighed, sympathy in her eyes.

"I know you might think that, but trust me, this school has your best interests at heart and we now have decided that rather than punishing you, we are going to grant you the opportunity to take part in one co-curricular activity. It would be good for you both to spend time training and working alongside some good influences for a chance."

Miguel and Kyler looked at each other and shrugged. That wasn't too bad at all.

"Okay, that's fine. I'll just join the soccer team." Miguel said.

"Yeah, and I'll rejoin the wrestling team." Kyler added. The two boys started to stand up but Counselor Blatt shook her head.

"Sit down." She snapped. The two guys reluctantly sat back down in their seats. "It is nearly February. All sports teams are in the middle of their respective season. You can't join a team now."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Miguel asked, cautiously. Counsellor Blatt took out a brochure from her desk and handed it to Miguel and Kyler. They looked at it and their eyes widened in horror.

"Oh, you have got to be joking!" Miguel exclaimed. "The Lion King school play?!"

"Counsellor Blatt! There's gotta be another way. We'll do the time we would spend in the play in detention instead! Please! Don't make us do this!" Kyler begged. Counsellor Blatt shook her head.

"I'm sorry, boys. This is not the first time you both have been involved in fights. Maybe this will teach you to sort out your problems with hands, rather than your fists…"

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"What the hell, 'Rhea?! This is all your fault!" Kyler shouted as him and Miguel walked out of the office in defeat moments later.

"So sue me." Miguel declared as he walked down the corridor and away from Kyler. Kyler wasn't done though. He ran after Miguel and grabbed him by the back of his shirt. Miguel immediately spun around, his arms raised, ready to fight.

"Really? You want to fight me? You want to go 0 for 3?" Miguel growled. Kyler chuckled.

"Not yet, 'Rhea. Not yet." Kyler stated cryptically, in a tone not too dissimilar to Kreese.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Miguel snapped. Kyler smirked at him evilly.

"I just wanted to give you a heads up." Kyler said. "One of our troops put you in the hospital last time but you woke up. This time, when the fight finally comes, you're not going to. Whether it be Robby, or Tory, or me, or Shawn…"

"Who's Shawn?" Miguel asked, confused, interrupting Kyler. Kyler raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Oh, you don't know Shawn? Trust me, you're going to get to know him soon." Kyler snarled. "We're going to kill you, 'Rhea." He growled. "We're going to kill you and there's nothing you, your family, your friends or your senseis can do about it."

With that, Kyler turned and started walking away from Miguel. Miguel smirked and spread his arms wide.

"You know where to find me!" Miguel called after him, before turning and walking away himself…

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"There he is! Barbra Streisand in the flesh!" Johnny laughed as Miguel walked into the Miyagi-Do dojo later that day. Miguel glared at him and threw his backpack onto the ground.

"Shut up!" Miguel snapped. "I don't want to do this! Those idiots somehow believe that standing there, not saying a word, not moving, acting as a background tree is more beneficial than Karate!"

"Wait, you're a tree?!" Hawk exclaimed, gleefully. Miguel sighed and nodded.

"You sure you don't want to take my place? I broke my back last year!" Miguel exclaimed.

"And that is relevant how?" Hawk remarked. "How long are you going to be milking that injury?"

"For as long as I have to be a fucking tree in the Lion King." Miguel snapped. "Come on? Demitri?"

"Sorry, bud." Demitri laughed.

"Mitch?" Miguel pleaded.

"There isn't enough money in the world that would convince me to do that." Mitch replied.

"Sam?" Miguel begged. Sam shook her head and laughed.

"Sorry, Miguel. I really like you, but I don't like you that much." She replied. He groaned and accepted his fate. He was going to have his time waste for around 6 hours a week standing around like a lemon when he could be training for the All-Valley.

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Later that night, as Miguel sat on his computer working, he finally started to re-think about the events of the afternoon. He remembered what Kyler had said…

_Whether it be Robby, or Tory, or me, or Shawn…_

Who in God's name was Shawn? From the way Kyler said his name, and because Kyler had said his name in the same sentence as Robby and Tory, he clearly was a threat. However, Miguel had no idea who he was and he didn't like that at all. He didn't like being in the dark about a potential threat to him and his friends. Miguel quickly went onto instagram and searched all of his followers for a Shawn. Nothing. Then he searched Kyler's followers. Nothing. Finally, Miguel had an idea. He found Robby's profile after a lot of searching and scrolled through all of his posts. There weren't many so it was pretty easy. Miguel eventually found a post that Robby had taken a week or so ago. It was captioned 'The Boys are Back Together', and the picture was of Robby and three massive behemoths in Cobra Kai gis. Miguel had a sinking feeling as he clicked on the image to see the profiles tagged. He felt like he knew what he was about to see but he hoped to God he was wrong. He wasn't. He was absolutely right. Standing in the middle of the group, a 6'9, 300 pound giant, was a man named ShawnTheKiller. Miguel put his head in his hands as he stared at the picture of the mountain of a man. This was not good. Not good at all…


	4. Chapter 4

_**CHAPTER 4** _

The next morning was Saturday, but it was anything but a day to sleep in. Miguel was rudely awakened at 5:30 in the morning by Johnny kicking the side of his bed, and they drove to Coyote Creek to meet up with the rest of the group for training. Johnny and Daniel had a combined special lesson plan in mind, and it would involve all of them pushing the limits as far as they could.

When they stepped out of the car, Miguel joined the group of exhausted students and a wide-awake Johnny joined a wide-awake Daniel at the front. Johnny wasn't tired at all. Hell, at this time, he was normally still in the bars. The students however were practically asleep again. In fact, Bert was fast asleep on the ground and Sam was dozing off on Miguel's shoulder.

"Sensei, why are we here?" Miguel mumbled, starting to fade himself.

"QUIETTTT!" Johnny bellowed, causing everyone asleep to jump in shock. "Listen up! This is going to be the hardest training of your lives, and you're not going to be able to do that if you're tired! How many of you are tired?!"

Pretty much everyone raised their hand. Johnny smirked.

"Okay. Follow me." He said. Confused, the group all hurried after Johnny and Daniel, still slightly blurry-eyed from sleep, and Johnny stopped them right beside the Creek.

"What are we doing?" Demitri slurred, his eyes closed and him in a daze, asleep but still standing.

"Line up. Close your eyes. Stand on one leg." Johnny demanded to everyone. The group reluctantly made a line and they all stood on a single leg, wobbling for balance as they were all still tired. Johnny stood opposite Miguel - who was on the far left of the group - and Daniel stood opposite Chris - who was on the far right. The two senseis grinned at each other.

"Ready?" Daniel asked Johnny. Johnny smirked and nodded.

"Hell, yeah." Johnny replied. With that, Johnny and Daniel pushed every single student into the frigid waters of the icy lake. The freezing cold, as well as the shock of being in there, caused them all to wake the hell up immediately.

"Oh, we should have asked them if they can all swim." Daniel remarked, worriedly, afterwards. Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Nobody can't swim. Everyone can. They just need the right incentive, and drowning seems like a pretty good one to get legs working so they'll be fine."

Daniel looked at Johnny, incredulously.

"You can't be serious?!" He exclaimed. "You're insane, you know that?"

"Not as much as someone who believes that in fights, you should wait for the opponent to hit you." Johnny shot back. Daniel rolled his eyes at Johnny as the students slowly climbed out of the lake, absolutely freezing but wide-awake now.

"All right!" Johnny shouted. "Now, I ask again, how many of you are tired?"

No one raised their hand this time.

"Mr. L, can I go grab my jacket?" Demitri asked. "I have medically diagnosed thin skin and I…"

"QUIETTTTT!" Johnny bellowed, cutting him off. "You don't want to be cold? Tell your body not to be cold! I don't give a shit about your comfort!"

Demitri blushed and stepped back into the line of the students.

"Now, let's begin." Johnny said in a slightly quieter but still pretty loud voice. "We're in Coyote Creek today not to do the drill that we did in Cobra Kai last year. No! We are doing something different. A race."

"But not just any race." Daniel continued. "This race will yeah involve speed, but it will also involve strength, stamina, balance, agility, everything that you will need to be amazing at during the All-Valley."

"It's an obstacle race." Johnny explained. "You guys are going to be split off into random pairs and each of you is given a map of this whole forest and a compass. On the map, marked out, are 15 obstacles, ranging from tightroping across two trees, climbing a tree, flipping a boulder, and more. You are going to go to all of these obstacles in the order they are assigned to you to prevent cheaters just following one another. The race should take you at least 5 hours, and by the end, you will have run nearly 13 miles, in addition to having completed all of the various obstacles."

"What does the winning pair get?" Mitch asked, eagerly.

"A 50 dollar gift card each to a store of their choice." Daniel replied. Everyone's eyes widened. This was insane! At that moment, things suddenly got a LOT more competitive.

"What are the pairings?" Miguel asked. Daniel took out a hat.

"Everyone's names are on here. One by one, you're going to pull a name from the hat. Whoever you pull is your partner. If you like your partner, that's great. If you don't, I don't give a fuck." Johnny said. "If you pull the name of someone who is already in a pair, you pick again. Any more questions?"

"What happens if we get lost?" Demitri asked.

"Well, you have a compass and map so try and get back on track. However, worse case scenario like one of you are injured or you're really lost, you do get to have one phone on you. Before we start, you're going to turn off the phone and you can't turn it on. If you do, we get a notification and you are automatically out of the race. If you're lost, just call us and we'll track your phone's location and pick you up." Daniel said, reassuringly.

"But don't forfeit. Quitting is for pussies." Johnny remarked. Miguel chuckled at his sensei's bluntness. That man was truly unique, and he would really never evolve to the ways of the world.

"All right? No more questions? Let's start. First things first, teams…" Daniel said. Miguel closed his eyes and hoped to God he was paired with either Sam or Hawk. They were his only chances of winning. They were the most athletic people in the group. Demitri wasn't a bad bet either, but Miguel knew that after 5 hours of hard work, the last thing he would want to hear as they did the obstacle course would be Demitri's incessant jabbering.

"Diaz. You pick first." Johnny stated. Miguel nodded and walked over to the hat. Saying a silent prayer, he reached his hand into the hat and pulled out a concealed slip of paper. Miguel slowly opened it and read the name…

_**Hawk** _

Miguel rejoiced in relief, his wide smile noticeable to the rest of the group.

"Well, who'd you get?" Mitch asked, hoping to be with Miguel. Hell, pretty much everyone was hoping to be with Miguel. Although he couldn't fight, he was the most athletic member of the group. Miguel turned to Hawk and grinned at him. Hawk's eyes widened in delight.

"No way! Really?!" Hawk exclaimed. Miguel grinned and walked over to him, embracing him.

"Let's do this, man." Miguel stated. Hawk nodded.

"Hell yeah!" Hawk shouted. The rest of the group were far from happy though.

"This isn't fair! They're gonna win for sure!" Demitri exclaimed.

"Tough!" Johnny shouted. "Life doesn't always give you a fair fight! This is something your pussy generation need to get through your thick heads! Hawk and Diaz are together by random chance! Fucking deal with it!"

With that, there were no more complaints from the students. They were all silent as they drew their teammates. Sam was with Demitri. Bert was with Chris. Mitch was with Nate. And of course, Hawk was with Miguel. The teams were set, and they were ready to start. Johnny tossed each of them a small stick of beef jerky and a half liter bottle of water.

"Um… Sensei. We're going to need more food and water than this if we're training for 7 hours?" Mitch stated.

"Well, suck it up. This is all you get. If you need more water, get it from the lake. And if you want more food… well, it wouldn't hurt you to lose weight." Johnny snapped. Miguel and Hawk snorted under their breath - they were used to the rude, harsh, insulting tone Johnny spoke in - but the others were less than pleased. Mitch blushed furiously and looked down, and Daniel glared at Johnny.

"Anyways, y'all know what to do. You ready? 3… 2… 1… Go!" Johnny shouted. Immediately, the pairs took off into the woods. Miguel and Hawk ran towards their first checkpoint on their map, around a half mile away, keeping their pace fast but not too fast. This race was 7 hours long and they were practically running a half marathon on top of all of the strenuous obstacles in store for them. After around a 5 minute jog, they arrived at the first checkpoint and obstacle. Miguel and Hawk looked around for the obstacle and moments later, Miguel spotted it: a sign posted on a nearby massive oak tree.

"Here." Miguel said, and the two walked towards it, still recovering from their short jog. Miguel and Hawk read the sign…

**Climb the tree. Grab one of the ribbons at the top…**

Miguel and Hawk looked at each other, and Hawk nodded.

"Okay, let's do this." Hawk said. Miguel nodded, already in sync with his friend on how they were going to do this. Hawk would be the one doing the climbing, but Miguel would give him a massive boost by giving him a leg up. Hawk was the acrobat. Miguel was the sledgehammer. It took Hawk around a minute to get to the top of the tree and he threw down a gold ribbon, and Miguel caught it. Hawk grinned and expertly scaled back down the tree to the ground, and him and Miguel high-fived.

"Nice one." Miguel remarked. "Now, next obstacle. Three miles… that way." Miguel said, consulting his compass and pointing towards deeper into the forest. Hawk groaned.

"3 miles? Jesus!" He grumbled. Miguel chuckled.

"We got 7 hours for this race. Let's take it easy." Miguel said.

"Nah, we gotta win!" Hawk exclaimed. Miguel laughed.

"And we will. Look at our opponents. Something tells me Bert and Nate aren't about to be rushing to run 13 miles continuously."

"True, true. Let's do this!" Hawk declared. Miguel nodded and they continued on their trek…

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"Come on, Demitri! Hurry up!" Sam snapped, annoyed. An hour more had passed in the race and they had only completed one obstacle. It had taken a lot out of them, and they were already nearing exhaustion. Well, Demitri was. Sam was just annoyed as she wanted to go faster. Demitri finally came to a stop and he sat on a rock.

"Break. Please." He begged. Sam sighed and sat down opposite him, glancing at her watch. She knew that with every passing second, Miguel and Hawk were getting further and further ahead. This was more than just a race for 50 bucks for her. She came from a pretty wealthy family so 50 bucks wasn't much to her. It was about something more. Ever since training started, Hawk and Miguel had been considered the 'unofficial favourites' to win the competition. Although Sam was undeniably a good fighter, when it came to fighting humongous guys in the tournament, Miguel and Hawk were given extra training, extra attention, and Sam wanted that to change. She wanted to show everyone, and herself, that she was still a contender to win the All-Valley. She was Samantha Larusso, daughter of a two time All-Valley champion and Miyagi-Do instructor. She would be winning that tournament.

"We need to go." Sam snapped after less than a minute of resting. Demitri groaned and didn't get up.

"Calm down, Sam!" Demitri snapped. "You've gotta realise I'm not as in shape as your action hero boyfriend!"

"This isn't about Miguel... and he's not perfect, you know?" Sam stated. Demitri raised an eyebrow.

"Ooh, trouble in paradise?" Demitri remarked. Sam sighed.

"Yeah, little bit. I mean he's not doing anything wrong. He's kind, he's considerate, he's selfless. It's just… I'm scared."

"Of?" Demitri asked.

"Of losing everything like we did last time. You're not blind. You can tell Sensei Lawrence and my dad are not doing so well at the whole working as a team thing. Sensei Lawrence's insults and attitude combined with my dad's stubbornness are not a good combo."

"Yeah, you could say that." Demitri laughed as he thought about all of the arguments the two senseis had. "But what does this have to do with you and Miguel?"

"I'm… I'm scared that my dad and Sensei Lawrence are going to split up and go back to being enemies, and Miguel and I are going to be forced to take our places on our respective sides. You know, Miguel is Johnny's mentor and protegee, and my dad is, well, my dad. I'm just scared we're going to get caught in the crossfire." Sam said. Demitri nodded, thoughtfully, the race temporarily forgotten.

"Well, have you considered talking to him about it?" Demitri asked. Sam shook her head.

"I don't want to talk to him yet and spook him out. It's just, Miguel's the only person I can completely trust and I can talk freely with. He was the only person who really understanded the PTSD and the pain I had after fighting Tory. I mean, my dad helped a little but after they invaded my house, all of those fears came rushing back and he was able to help pull me out. I don't want to lose him." Sam whispered. Demitri shrugged.

"I mean, with all due respect Sam, you're crazy. That's not going to happen. You both are a lot older and more mature now. You've been through hell together but you've come out even stronger on the other end. He'd be crazy to throw all of that away again just because of the rivalry. You guys have grown up a lot since last year. You're gonna be fine."

Sam nodded and smiled at Demitri. She stood up and gave him a hug.

"Thanks, Demitri. I really appreciate it." Sam said. Demitri nodded.

"Anytime." He replied. "Now, let's get going…"

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Kyler parked his jeep at the other side of the forest, and him, Robby, Tory and Shawn walked out. They had managed to track Hawk's phone to Coyote Creek and they wanted to take the opportunity to send a message. Hawk had betrayed Cobra Kai, and Cobra Kai did not take too well to backstabbers. Miguel would have to wait for another day, but they were going to handle Hawk right then, right now…


	5. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER 5** _

"Dude, we are crushing this!" Hawk exclaimed as Miguel crossed off another obstacle from their list. It was 3 and a half hours into the race and the pair were 11/15 obstacles done. They had just finished a strength drill where they had to flip an incredibly heavy boulder and pull another gold ribbon out from underneath. They were soaring in the lead of the competition and they knew it. They had come across Sam and Demitri - their closest rivals - around a half hour ago. At that point, Miguel and Hawk had completed 11 obstacles and Sam and Demitri had completed a mere 5. If that's where Sam and Demitri were, there was no telling where the other teams were.

Suddenly, Miguel heard something. Voices. They were coming from around a quarter of a mile away. He immediately tensed up as he recognised one of the voices. He would have recognised it anywhere: it was Kyler. Hawk noticed his friend's sudden change in demeanor and he raised an eyebrow.

"Um… Miguel?" Hawk asked. Miguel quickly put a finger to his lips in a gesture to quiet his friend.

"Shut up. I heard something." Miguel whispered. "People."

Hawk rolled his eyes.

"Well, yeah. One of the other groups may be nearby." Hawk remarked, quietly. Miguel shook his head. He knew something was wrong. The woods had gone eerily quiet. The birds who were previously singing in the trees had diminished. The wind that used to be blowing a faint breeze had completely died down.

"Follow me." Miguel whispered, and the two silently tiptoed towards the noise…

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"All right, guys. Listen up." Tory announced to the other three Cobras. "We know Hawk is somewhere in this quarter mile radius. He could have others with him so we need to be prepared. Kyler and Shawn, you two head in this direction…" She said, pointing in one direction of the forest. "And Robby and I will head in this direction…" She said, pointing in the other.

"Aight, let's do it. Yo, Shawn, pass me my bat from the trunk of the car." Kyler said. Shawn glared at him.

"Get it your own fucking self." Shawn glared. Kyler sighed and opened the trunk of his Jeep, taking out a metal baseball bat. Robby rolled his eyes when he saw it.

"You're such a pussy, Kyler, you know that?" Robby snapped. "You're walking into a 4 on 1 fight and you still feel the need for a baseball bat?"

Kyler shrugged.

"Win at all costs. Just like Sensei Kreese said. I just don't want another embarrassing loss. You know, like in the Larusso house. Or like you in the All-Valley final. Or like you in your relationship with Sam…"

Robby's eyes blazed with fury and he stormed over to Kyler and squared up to him, about to beat the crap out of him. Kyler started to retreat in fear - Robby was by far the best Cobra and it was stupid to try and get a rise out of him - but thankfully, Tory held Robby back before he could strike.

"Hey. Robby. Stop. Calm down." Tory urged him. After taking several deep breaths of anger, Robby slowly stepped away from a terrified Kyler.

"Mention her name one more time, and you'll regret it…" Robby growled. Kyler, almost trembling, nodded.

"Ok, guys, let's go." Tory declared. They all nodded and took off in pairs into the forest.

Robby and Tory silently crept through the trees, searching for any sign of Hawk. As Tory side glanced at Robby, she could tell he was still fuming at Kyler's remarks about Sam. She didn't blame him. Sam and Miguel had both screwed them over so hard. Sam had cheated on him, and then betrayed him when he emotionally needed her the most, dumping him for the same fucking guy who he had pulled her out of a toxic relationship with the year before.

"Hey, you okay?" Tory asked. Robby looked at her and saw the concern in her face and he sighed. Tory was the one person he could talk freely with. She was the one person who truly understood his pain. They had so much in common: leading with the fact that they both had been screwed over by Miguel and Sam.

"Yeah, fine." He grunted. Tory sighed.

"I know how it feels, you know?" She remarked. Robby looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I know how it feels to be thrown under the bus by the one person you opened up to. The one person you trusted." Tory stated. "I know that intense anger that you get whenever you hear her name."

Robby nodded.

"Right. I suppose you would." He murmured.

"It's not our fault." Tory continued. "Any of this. Everyone calls us mentally crazy. Everyone calls us evil. You know how Sensei Kreese says that there's no such thing as good and evil? Well he's wrong. There is a good side and a bad side. We're not the bad side though. We haven't been starting fights. We've just been reacting to situations they've started, and we're the only ones strong enough to end it."

"It's just… there's so much anger in me. And pain. How do you remove it?" Robby asked. Tory shrugged.

"You don't. You just channel it. It makes you a better fighter." She replied. "Trust me. You'll see."

Robby nodded and faintly smiled at Tory.

"Thanks, Tory." He murmured. "For everything. I owe you."

"No, you don't." Tory said. "But do me a favor, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. What?" Robby asked. Tory smirked.

"When you eventually, inevitably fight Miguel and I'm not there, hit him in the dick as hard as you can and tell him that Tory Nichols says fuck you." Tory replied. Robby chuckled.

"And if you fight Samantha, you do the exact same. Deal?" He said, holding out a hand for Tory to shake. Tory laughed and shook it.

"Deal…"

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Hawk and Miguel slowed to a halt. The voices were much closer now and Miguel realised that he couldn't hear Kyler anymore. He heard two other people who he would recognise from a mile away: Tory and Robby. Hawk and Miguel crouched down and peered around a large tree to see the pair talking about 50 meters away. Hawk looked at them and his eyes widened.

"What the hell are they doing here?" Hawk whispered. Miguel shrugged.

"No idea, but we need to get out of here. NOW." Miguel responded, urgently. "Robby and Tory are here. I heard Kyler somewhere too. There's gotta be more. We need to get back to base camp and warn Sensei."

Hawk nodded.

"Base camp's like two miles away. Shouldn't we call him?" Hawk asked. Miguel nodded.

"We'll call him on the way. We just need to get moving. I don't like this." Miguel whispered. His hair was on its end. He could sense that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite tell what. Hawk nodded and the two quietly got to their feet, preparing to run. However, before they could move even one step, a cracking pain seared across Miguel's head and he blacked out. Hawk spun around and saw Kyler and a massive gargantuan black guy leering at him.

"Told you the bat would come in useful." Kyler remarked to the other Cobra, kissing the tip of the bat in delight. Hawk was immobile. He couldn't run away because his best friend was lying, unconscious, right in front of him and he wasn't about to leave him to the vicious, merciless Cobras. All Hawk could do was lamely try to defend himself before a single punch from the massive guy knocked him out cold…

"Hey Robby! We got them!" Shawn shouted to his friend, who was standing with Tory a short distance away. Robby turned at the sound of his friend's voice, and him and Tory ran over.

"Wait, what do you mean them?" Robby asked as him and Tory made it over. His jaw dropped as he saw the answer to his question. Lying at his feet, knocked out, was his mortal enemy. When Robby saw him, all of the memories he had of him cascaded through his mind like a tsunami. He was taken to that evening when he saw Johnny treating Miguel more like a son than he ever had Robby. He was taken back to the night of the party, where Miguel had tried to start a fight with him and ended up hitting Sam. He was taken back to the All-Valley, where Miguel cheated and targeted his injury to win. He was taken to all of the times in his life when Johnny had prioritised Miguel over him. All of the times Sam had chosen Miguel over him. Rage coursed through Robby's veins, but it wasn't a fiery rage: it was cold. Robby was deathly calm. He knew that he had Miguel at his mercy and now was finally the time that he would get revenge for all of the shit that boy had put him through.

"So, what are we going to do to Hawk? How are we going to use him to send a message to the Cobras?" Shawn asked. Robby looked at Tory and saw that she was thinking exactly the same thing as him. Robby shook his head.

"We're not." He replied, before pointing at Miguel's limp body. "We're going to use him instead…"

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**7 hours after the race had started…**

Sam and Demitri sprinted over to base camp, the end of the race finally in sight. They knew that Miguel and Hawk had probably won, but they were more than okay with second place. They saw Johnny and Daniel standing at the camp, looking bored out of their minds but brightening up considerably when they saw Demitri and Sam.

"Finally! Took you long enough!" Johnny exclaimed as they stumbled to a halt and gasped for breath at the end of the absolutely obliteratingly tiring half marathon obstacle course.

"Congrats, guys! You won!" Daniel exclaimed. Sam and Demitri looked at each other, confused.

"We won?" Demitri asked, perplexed. "How?"

"Um… because you were the best team!" Daniel said, cheerfully.

"Or because Diaz and Hawk got lost." Johnny remarked. Daniel glared at him and Johnny shrugged. "What? We're all thinking it? Those boys should have been back hours ago!"

"Johnny, shut up." Daniel snapped. "Sam and Demitri won because Sam and Demitri deserved to win."

"No, dad, he's right." Sam said, slightly worried. "We crossed paths with Miguel and Hawk like four hours ago. We had 5 obstacles done. They had 11. They were due to finish like at least 2 hours before us. Something happened to them."

"So they got lost. That's their problem. They'll find their way back. They're smart kids." Daniel said. "For now, sit back, relax, recover, and enjoy your victory."

Sam and Demitri nodded and sat down on the camping chairs and picnic mats Daniel had set up, but Sam was anything but relaxed. What the hell had happened to Miguel and Hawk? What if one of them got injured? Or bit by a snake? Or attacked by a wild animal? What if Miguel's back injuries had acted up again? Demitri noticed Sam's facial expression and he smiled faintly at her.

"Don't worry. He's fine." Demitri said, reassuringly. Sam sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. Everything is fine…"

Oh, how wrong she was.

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"Come on! This is boring!" Kyler grumbled. Hawk had woken up a while ago as he had just been knocked out with a punch, not a bat like Miguel. The Cobras had then proceeded to beat the living crap out of him until he was completely unconscious and wouldn't be waking up for a while. However, they wouldn't be sending their message to the Miyagi-Dos until they had beaten Miguel up to, and they wouldn't be able to do that until he finally woke up.

"Patience, Kyler." Tory snapped. "He's gonna wake up soon. Just pass the time by thinking about everything he's put you through. The dining room fight. The fight at the Larusso house. The soccer game. All of it. And now picture everything you want to do to him when he finally wakes up."

Kyler growled as he stared at Miguel's unconscious body. That bitch 'Rhea better get up soon. He had a score to settle with him…

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**2 hours later…**

Two hours later, the other groups had all made it back to camp, but Miguel and Hawk still hadn't. They were all starting to get worried now. Surely even if they had gotten lost, they would have found their way back by now, or had at least used their phone to call base camp. Sam paced around, nervously, as she called Miguel's phone again and again with no answer.

"Maybe they finished so early that they left?" Bert suggested, dumbly. Everyone glared at him.

"And gone where? Hawk's car is still here and Miguel came in my car, dumbass." Johnny snapped.

"Should we start looking for them in the forest?" Mitch asked. Johnny shook his head. Although he was just as worried as everyone else, more so even, he knew what needed to be done, and he needed to stay calm.

"No." Johnny said. "The forest is huge and Miguel has his phone off so we can't track his location. The last thing we want is to split up and get lost ourselves. Also, if something bad has happened to them like they were attacked by a bear, the last thing we want is to put ourselves at risk as well. Let's wait another hour so it will have been 12 hours, and then consider calling Fire and Rescue."

Everyone nodded and they stood around nervously, staring into the forest and hoping to God that they would see Miguel and Hawk sprinting through the trees towards them…

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Miguel groaned in pain as he woke up. He had a splitting headache and his temples were pounding. He had no idea what was going on. He was lying in dirt, and he spat out a piece of mud as he stumbled to his feet.

"Well, well, well, look who's up. I was beginning to think you were dead." A low snarl cut through the air. Miguel looked up to see Robby standing over him and everything came flooding back to him. His head spun around anxiously, looking for Hawk, and his heart dropped when he saw him. Hawk was lying on the ground, completely out, bruises and gashes all over his body and shirtless chest. Miguel started towards him but his path was quickly blocked by Shawn. Miguel spun around in a circle to see that Robby, Tory, Kyler and Shawn had surrounded him. If things resorted to a fight, Miguel knew that he stood no chance. And running wasn't an option either, what with Hawk lying there on the ground. He raised his hands in surrender.

"Look, you don't want to do this." Miguel stammered. "I can't speak for Kyler and Shawn because I don't know either of you very well, but Robby and Tory, you two aren't bad people. You're good people who have just been dealt a real shit hand in life. You don't need to do this. Beating me up or killing me or whatever is not going to erase the pain you guys are feeling. Yes, I've been a jerk to both of you. Tory, I cheated on you that night at the party. There's no excuse. Nothing I can say to defend myself. It was one of the worst things I've ever done. But what you need to know is that I wasn't dating you to get Sam's attention. Our relationship did mean something to me. It meant a lot to me. After breaking up with Sam, I felt kinda empty, and you helped fill that hole inside of me. And Robby, you think I've done a lot to you, yeah I've done a fair but, but I think you know that not all of it is my fault. I didn't steal your girlfriend. As far as I knew, you had stopped writing and had ghosted Sam more than a month before her and I started dating. You can't blame me for all of your issues. I have nothing but sympathy for what you guys are going through, but you can't blame me for everything. _I_ didn't start the school fight, Tory, _you_ did. _I_ didn't jump off the balcony myself, _you_ kicked me off, Robby. So please, please let me go and let me get help for Hawk. You don't want to do this."

Robby and Tory scowled at Miguel and eventually, their frowns lessened. Robby walked over to Miguel and held out a hand.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry." Robby said, holding out his hand for Miguel to shake.

Miguel took it, but as soon as he did, Robby grabbed him by the arm and then kneed him in the solar plexus as hard as he could. Miguel groaned in pain and fell to the ground.

"Fuck you." Robby growled as he stood over Miguel. Miguel looked up and saw the four teenagers towering over him, but his sight was quickly covered when Robby's foot came up and then stomped on his face. For the next 15 minutes, the Cobras beat every inch of him they could find. Miguel knew that his nose was definitely broken, and he was in excruciating pain, but he forced himself not to pass out. He needed to stay awake. Who knew what would happen if he passed out. After about 20 minutes, the Cobras stood over him as Miguel writhed on the ground in pain. For a moment, things were completely silent, before the quiet vibrating of a mobile phone cut through the air. Miguel's phone had fallen out of his pocket at some point during the beatdown and Robby picked it up and looked at it. It was a facetime call from Sam. Robby chuckled mirthlessly.

"Wow, that's actually perfect." He remarked, and he accepted the call.

"MIGUEL, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Sam shouted into the phone as soon as the video call began, in her panic not realising that she wasn't actually talking to her boyfriend.

"Hello, Sam." Robby smirked into the phone. Sam then realised who it was, and her mouth dropped.

"Robby? What are doing with Miguel's phone?" Sam stammered. Johnny, who was standing a couple of feet away, quickly walked over at the mention of his son's name. Robby saw Johnny walk into the frame and he grinned. Daniel followed close behind.

"Ah! Dad! What a fantastic surprise! And Mr. Larusso, you're here too! How wonderful!" Robby exclaimed, cheerfully.

"Robby, what's going on?" Johnny demanded. Robby shrugged.

"Not much. I just wanted to show you guys something." He said, before panning his camera to show Shawn, Tory and Kyler, who were holding an extremely beaten down Miguel. Everyone's hearts dropped as they saw Miguel bleeding profusely, coughing and spluttering in pain. He had never looked this beaten down before. Not even after the ten minute school fight. Sure his back was broken, but even after that fight he didn't have very many bruises or gashes on his face. Now, he looked like something from the last 10 minutes of The Walking Dead.

"Oh my God, MIGUEL!" Sam screamed, tears immediately forming in her eyes. "ROBBY, WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"This is your champion?" Robby remarked, slapping an already injured Miguel as a form of insult and then panning his camera to show a completely unconscious Hawk. "And this is your number 2, right? I must say guys, I'm honestly disappointed. I expected better. I thought he'd put up more of a fight."

"Robby, please, stop." Sam begged, tears streaming down her face at the sight of Hawk and Miguel so beaten down. She couldn't believe Robby would do that. Robby shrugged.

"Sorry, Sam. Do you remember the night I saw you and Miguel, how you blamed me and said that it was my fault for not writing and I said that it's pretty hard to write when I was getting my face busted in? Well, let's see if Miguel can do better. Miguel, talk to your girlfriend." Robby said, shoving the phone in Miguel's face and forcing the group watching on the other end a more zoomed in sight on how damaged Miguel was. Miguel slapped the phone away from him, and then spat a mixture of blood and saliva in Robby's face.

"Fuck. You." Miguel growled, before he was roughly knocked at the back of the head again by Shawn. Robby smirked and picked up the phone from the ground again, looking at the group of terrified Miyagi-Dos.

"Well, that's all we have time for this episode of Cobra Kai vs. Miyagi Do." Robby said, putting on a phony host voice. "I will see all of you very soon."

Right before Robby hung up, Miguel and Hawk's faces were zoomed in, before Tory walked into the frame and looked right at Sam, fury and animalistic wrath in her eyes.

"Hey, Larusso. You're next, bitch." She growled, before hanging up the phone. Robby nodded at her as she snapped the phone in half to prevent anyone from tracking their location.

"All right. Good work today, guys. Let's go." Robby ordered. The Cobras nodded and after spitting on Miguel, who was still convulsing in pain, they all walked away, into their Jeep, and they drove off…


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God." Sam dropped her phone and started trembling. Johnny and Daniel looked at each other, absolutely terrified. However, after glancing at the even more petrified teenagers, they snapped themselves into action.

"Okay, guys. Listen up!" Daniel announced. "First things first, everyone calm down. We can't freak out, okay? I'm going to call 911 now and I'll wait here for them until they arrive. Johnny, you, Demitri, Mitch and Chris go into the forest together and see if you can find them. It's a long shot, but just try your best and KEEP YOUR PHONES ON. We can't afford to lose anyone else. Sam…" Daniel paused, looking at his daughter, who was starting to hyperventilate. "You just stay here, sweetie."

Johnny nodded at Daniel and him and his search party took off into the woods, hoping and praying that the boys weren't too far away…

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Miguel groaned and stumbled to his feet. It took him several moments as every inch of his body was throbbing in pain, all the way from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. It was like someone had replaced blood with boiling water, and it was burning him from the inside out. However, he forced himself to get up. He knew that they were pretty far into the forest, and it would be a long time until someone was coming to help them. Quickly ripping off his t-shirt and wrapping it around his arm to stem the bleeding, Miguel then stumbled over to Hawk, who was still unconscious but otherwise unharmed. He tried to wake his friend up for several minutes using every known technique in the book: pouring water on him, shouting his name, slapping his face, shaking his shoulders. Nothing worked. He then took out his phone, trying to find help, but he groaned when he realised that Robby and Tory had broken it in half. Miguel sighed. He knew what he had to do. Crying out in pain, Miguel slowly lifted Hawk up and draped him across his shoulders. His knees felt like giving out but he forced himself to start walking in the direction of basecamp…

According to his map, it was about a 1 and a half mile journey back to base camp but he underestimated how tough that journey would be. Normally, for a cross-country runner like Miguel and Hawk, that journey would take them no longer than 10-15 minutes. However, with Hawk slung across his shoulder and his body feeling like it had been sent through a paper shredder, every step he took felt like the final one before he would collapse and pass out. He forced himself to continue though, not daring to stop as he knew that if he did, he wouldn't get back up. Finally, after around 40 minutes, Miguel started to see some familiar sights…

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"Did you find them?" Daniel asked, urgently, as Johnny and his search party came into the clearing. Johnny looked down and shook his head. At this point, he was extremely worried. He had no idea what he would do if something happened to Miguel. After the school fight, he had gone off the rails with his drinking, and he knew that that may happen again if Miguel was back in that hospital bed long-term.

"We searched everywhere in a half mile radius. Nothing." Johnny murmured to Daniel, quietly so Sam - who seemed to be on the verge of having a mental breakdown - wouldn't hear. He looked at her and saw her facial expression, and then turned back to Daniel. "Go take her home, Larusso. She shouldn't be here. Let me take care of this." Johnny offered. Daniel sighed and shook his head.

"I told her. She wants to stay. Just in case, you know…" Daniel's voice trailed off and Johnny nodded. He did know. In case when the paramedics found the guys, their hearts weren't beating anymore. Robby had already proven the lengths he would go to to win a fight against Miguel during the school fight. However, his dark train of thought was cut off when Demitri leapt to his feet.

"LOOK!" Demitri shouted, pointing into the foliage. Everyone stared into the forest and saw a dark shape appearing to be walking towards them. It was too wide and tall to be human, but they couldn't tell what exactly it was. A couple of seconds later, everyone's hearts leapt into their mouths as the figure came into brightness and they saw what it was. It was Miguel, with Hawk over his shoulders. Miguel's eyes widened when he saw them, and he had to blink several times to make sure he wasn't imagining things. His body was screaming in pain, and he was just about ready to keel over and die.

"Oh, my fucking God! I made it. I made it. I…"

Miguel didn't finish his sentence. Less than 100 yards away from the basecamp and well in their view, Miguel finally collapsed, letting unconsciousness take over him. He didn't even feel himself being carried into an ambulance and rushed to a hospital…

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An hour later, Miguel and Hawk were in neighboring hospital rooms, and their families were scrambling around the rooms. Sam had calmed down considerably now, and was now sitting right next to an unconscious Miguel in his hospital room. She said right there for several hours, barely even moving, hearing people come and go from the room around her but not even looking up. Eventually, night fell and visiting hours ended. Miguel's family went home, exhausted and worn out, leaving just Johnny and Sam on opposite sides of the room.

"You should go home. Get some sleep." Johnny grunted. Only one of them was allowed to stay in Miguel's room overnight. Sam shook her head.

"No. I'll stay. It's not like I'm going to get any sleep if I go home anyway." Sam murmured. Johnny nodded. Now that Miguel was safe, Sam had started to think clearly about the whole afternoon's events, and Tory's final words on the call rang through her brain on repeat.

_Hey, Larusso. You're next, bitch_

It had taken Sam nearly 4 months to start to make progress at tackling her PTSD issues after the school fight, and this ambush had just sent her back further than she started. She knew that she was going to be having nightmares at least until the All-Valley, and she would probably be looking over her shoulder for Tory long after that.

"You're a good person, Larusso." Johnny said, quietly. "And you know, I'm sorry for pitting Miguel against you last year. I didn't know you. Just because your dad's a bitch, doesn't automatically mean you're one too."

Sam laughed.

"Well, that apology started great. It kinda slipped off at the end with you insulting my dad, but yeah, it's okay. My dad did the same thing you did and I didn't handle it great either. Guess it took Miguel and I finally growing up for you two to grow up too."

Johnny chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah. He deserves someone like you. He's been through a lot in his life, in Ecuador and here. I glad he finally managed to catch a break."

Sam glanced at Miguel, who was still unconscious on the hospital bed, and raised an eyebrow.

"This is catching a break, for you? Jesus you have low standards." She remarked. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean. After everything he's gone through in the past year, the last thing he's needed is another toxic relationship." Johnny said. "Anyways, good night, Larusso. See you tomorrow."

"Good night, Sensei Lawrence." Sam murmured in reply, smiling faintly at him. This was the first time she had ever seen Sensei Lawrence anything but his normally rude, politically-incorrect-as-hell self, and she realised why Miguel loved him so much. Johnny then left the room and Sam stood up shortly after, heading towards the bathroom. On her way, she peaked into Hawk's room and saw how eerily empty it looked. She knew what she needed to do. Pulling out her phone, she dialled a number…

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"Daniel, this is insane!" Amanda snapped as her and Daniel drove home from the hospital that night. "Those boys could have died, and you're telling me they're not going to press charges?!"

Daniel shook his head.

"Yup. It sucks but that's the way it is. There's nothing linking Kreese to the attack so if Miguel and Hawk's family press charges and Robby and Tory get sent to juvie, there's nothing stopping Kreese from staying in the valley for the rest of his life. Our bet will be off and he will face no criminal charges. I mean, you saw how well he talked during that All-Valley hearing. He's manipulative and calculating to another degree. The only thing we can do is just bite the bullet until the tournament and train hard enough to beat them."

Amanda nodded and sighed.

"I know. It just sucks, that's all. So there's nothing you can do?"

Daniel clenched his jaw.

"I didn't say that…"

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Later that night, Daniel stormed into the Cobra Kai dojo, ready to confront Kreese. There was no way that man was getting away with nearly killing two students. Not if he could help it.

"KREEEESE!" Daniel bellowed as he barged through the entrance of the dojo. It was nearly 11 pm so of course there were no students there, but Kreese was normally there almost all the time. "Show yourself, you coward!

Kreese stepped out of his office moments later and grinned at Daniel, completely at ease.

"Greetings, Mr. Larusso." Kreese smirked. "What can I help you with?"

"What can you help me with?! WHAT CAN YOU HELP ME WITH?! YOUR THUGS NEARLY KILLED TWO OF MY STUDENTS!" Daniel shouted, out of control now. Kreese, not losing his cool demeanor, nodded.

"Yeah, I heard about that. Excellent job if you ask me. That Keene kid especially. I guess I have you to thank for training him so well, and for training Mr. Diaz and Hawk so poorly."

At the mention of Robby, Daniel's blood boiled.

"Listen here, old man." Daniel growled, menacingly, grabbing Kreese by the collar. "You stay the hell away from my students until the All-Valley, or you're not going to live to see your 73rd birthday!"

Kreese looked down at Daniel's hands and tutted cockily.

"Now, now, Daniel. You might want to take your hands off me. Remember, it didn't work out so well for your wife. And you know, I'm being pretty considerate making this bet with you and Johnny. I'm sure you wouldn't want me to… back out of the deal, would you?"

"You back out of the deal and so help me God there will be so many cops on you that your grandchildren are going to need lawyers." Daniel spat. Kreese shrugged.

"Well, that works out for me 'cause I don't have any grandchildren. Besides, last time you tried to make a complaint against me, it didn't go so well, remember? And then at the All-Valley hearing. In case you don't remember, I'm a pretty good talker." Kreese remarked. Daniel rolled up his sleeves.

"Fine. Fair enough. Then I kill you myself." Daniel snapped. Kreese chuckled.

"Well, before you do that, I thought it might be nice for me to introduce you to my new co-senseis. I know you and Johnny are teaming up so I thought that it was only fair for me to call in the cavalcade too."

Stepping out from the office, two men dressed in black Cobra Kai gis grinned cockily at Daniel. Daniel's blood ran cold as he recognised them. Staring back at him were two men he hoped he would never have to see again: Terry Silver and Mike Barnes.

"Hey Danny Boy." Barnes grinned. "Long time no see."

Daniel's mind was suddenly sent back to that All-Valley. He visualised every single blow Barnes sent his way. He was suddenly filled with the same fear he felt that day, but this time, he had no Mr. Miyagi to calm him down.

"So, Daniel…" Kreese said, quietly but firmly. "Let me lay down the law for you. What your students do to my students is fair game. What my students do to your students is fair game. But, if you ever think about coming after me personally again, I warn you that these men are trained in the Cobra Kai way. Strike First."

"Strike Hard." Silver continued. Barnes grinned sadistically at Daniel before finishing the mantra.

"No. Mercy…"


	7. Chapter 7

Hawk's eyes slowly opened and his head throbbed as blinding white lights scorched his eyes. It took him a while to recollect his thoughts. Where the he? What the hell was going on? His head was pounding and he could hear a faint ringing sound. When his eyes finally adjusted to the blinding light, he realised that he was in a hospital room, and then everything came rushing back to him. Coyote Creek. The Cobras. Getting knocked out. Wait… Miguel! He had been right beside Hawk when he got knocked out! What had the Cobras done to Miguel, because Hawk already knew that it was a LOT worse than what they had done to him. Hawk groaned in pain as he sat up frantically and looked around for Miguel.

"He's okay." A voice came from the other side of the room. Hawk spun around to see Moon sitting on a chair at the side of the room.

"M-m-moon?" Hawk stammered.

"Miguel's fine. He's in the room next door." Moon said. Hawk relaxed a little bit, but then confusion and nervousness took over.

"That's… that's good." Hawk murmured. "What are you doing here?"

"Sam called me." Moon replied. "She told me what happened. She told me everything that's been going on with you over the past couple of months. You broke Demitri's arm?"

Hawk blushed. That's right. The Hawk himself blushed. Moon was the only person in the world who could make him do so.

"Yeah, um… not my best moment." Hawk stammered. "I was pressured by the Cobras and Kreese and I got caught up in the moment, and…"

"She also told me how you're risking your life and fighting against Cobra Kai now." Moon continued. Hawk looked up at her gorgeous face and he took a deep breath.

"Moon, I owe you an apology. I was an absolute jerk to you last year. I let my sudden change in personality get to my head, and I became a jackass."

Moon nodded slowly.

"So what's different now? What's changed?" She asked. Hawk then proceeded to tell his ex-girlfriend about everything that had happened to him under Kreese, and then after he left Kreese and rejoined Johnny and Miguel. Moon then filled him in on what she had been up to. They talked for nearly an hour before they lapsed into silence.

"So would ever consider, you know, maybe putting the past behind us and getting back together?" Hawk asked, rather hopefully. Moon raised an eyebrow.

"Hawk, you're hot. Hotter than anyone in the world. Badass. But you became a real jerk. What makes you think you still have a chance with me?" She asked. Hawk looked straight in her eyes when he answered…

"Because you sat here for an hour. You listened to me talk about me at most jackass moments - when I broke one of my closest friend's arm for God sake - and you didn't turn around and walk out." Hawk replied. Moon didn't speak for several moments. Hawk could feel sleep trying to drag him under but he forced himself to stay awake. If he ever wanted to get back together with her, they needed to patch things up soon. His eyes flickered open and closed and Moon noticed his exhaustion. Moon eventually stood up and walked over to him, kissing him softly on the lips.

"Get some rest, Hawk. We'll talk more later." She whispered. Hawk nodded and immediately fell back asleep.

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Miguel's eyes snapped open. His whole body was throbbing in pain but he immediately remembered the events in the creek and his head snapped around, trying to figure out where he was. He calmed down considerably when he realised that he was in a hospital room, so clearly the fight was over. It wasn't his first time in a hospital room. Far from it, of course, after the school fight. Miguel tried to lift his limbs up but to his panic, his left arm wouldn't move. No! No way he was paralysed again! He looked down at his arm and almost laughed in relief; he couldn't move his arm because Sam was resting her head on it. How long had she been there? She was fast asleep and Miguel didn't want to wake her. She was still wearing her clothes from the Creek so he was guessing she hadn't gone home afterwards.

A couple of minutes after Miguel woke up, he felt Sam begin to thrash around in her seat. Miguel's eyes widened in alarm.

"Sam. Sam!" Miguel murmured, trying to shake her awake. It was no use though. She seemed to be in a trance. She was pleading with someone in her nightmare, presumably Tory, and there was nothing Miguel could do until she woke up moments later with a start.

"Miguel! You're okay!" She stammered as she looked around, completely dishevelled.

"Yeah. Wish I could say the same about you. What's going on, Sam?" Miguel asked, concerned. Sam looked at him, putting on a mask of confusion.

"What do you mean?" She asked. Miguel sighed and looked into her enormous ocean-blue eyes that were wracked with pain and exhaustion.

"Tory." Miguel said, bluntly, seeing the fear flash in Sam's eyes at the mention of her name. "She's haunting your dreams again, isn't she?"

Sam sighed and looked down, a tear splashing down into her lap. Miguel noticed and he quickly held her hands in his own. Sam slowly looked up and her pain-filled ocean eyes met his concerned chestnut ones.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Miguel whispered.

"I'm scared, Miguel. I'm so scared." Sam mumbled, tears leaking out of her eyes. "Robby and Tory nearly killed us multiple times before and I'm scared… I'm scared one of us isn't going to see the end of this fight."

Miguel looked down and slowly nodded.

"Sam, that's not going to happen." Miguel said. Sam shook her head.

"You don't know that though." Sam snapped. "I'm done fighting. I'm pulling out before I get killed, and you should do the same. Tomorrow morning, I'm telling my dad I'm out. You could tell Johnny too and we could finally have normal high school experiences."

Miguel chuckled and shook his head.

"I think you know I'm not going to do that, Sam." Miguel remarked. "I'm in this fight for as long as I'm breathing."

"Why though?! What in the world would make you willing to endure this torture?"

"Because going back to my life before Karate would be ten times worse than any injury Robby could inflict." Miguel replied. "Before Karate, I was bullied. First by my dad. Then, when I moved here, by Kyler and all of those guys. Karate gave me not only the strength and confidence I needed to stand up for myself, but it also gave me you and Sensei Lawrence - two of the people I care about most in the world. I wouldn't give that up. Not for anything."

"Come on, Miguel. Karate isn't what brought us together." Sam said. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Really? You're telling me you would have even considered dating the guy I was at the beginning of Freshman year when you were with Kyler?"

Sam eventually sighed and nodded.

"OK, fine. You have a point. But what makes the good outweigh the bad?" She asked. Miguel looked at her and despite her exhausted expression, he saw how beautiful she was, how caring she was, how sweet she was, how funny she was. He smiled faintly.

"Well, when you're surrounded by the right people, I've always believed that bad outweighing the good is impossible." He replied. Sam smiled faintly at him and sat back in her chair.

"I guess I could hang in there with the Karate a little bit longer." She murmured. Miguel smiled widely and nodded.

"That's great." He stated. His mind then flashed back to moments earlier, when Sam was thrashing around in her nightmare. He took a deep breath. "That nightmare you just had… you wanna talk about it?"

Sam shrugged.

"Not much to talk about." She murmured. "Tory was there. Robby was there. You were there. You and I, we're sparring at the dojo. Robby and Tory walk in. They beat us up. We're fighting in the backyard. You and I lose the fight. Tory pins me to the ground and forces me to watch as Robby holds your head in the pond until you stop breathing. Then I woke up."

Sam had tears in her eyes again and Miguel's jaw was practically on the ground in shock as he listened to his girlfriend. When she stopped talking, Miguel forced himself to sit up in his hospital bed, ignoring his body's scream of pain, and he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend comfortingly. He could practically feel her pain radiating off of her.

"Hey, hey, it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. Look, Sam, have you considered talking to someone about all of this? Like a professional?"

"I'm not crazy, Miguel! I'm not like… her." Sam snapped, defensively. Miguel shook his head.

"No, no, no. I'm not saying that. You don't have to be crazy to benefit from speaking to a professional counsellor, Sam. Look, I'm not about to pressure you to do anything. I've been through counselling before and I can tell you it doesn't make you crazy, and it actually helps. It helps get out all of the things that you aren't comfortable talking about with family and friends and prevents it from bottling up inside. Just think about it, okay?"

Sam eventually nodded.

"Yeah, thanks. I will." Sam murmured. She then looked at Miguel, who had bruises and bandages covering almost every inch of his face and she laughed internally. Here was Miguel, nearly killed less than 24 hours ago, and he was the one who wound up comforting her. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Well, my arms and legs feel like they're made of lead, and my face feels like someone lit it on fire so that's just great." Miguel remarked, sarcastically.

"Awwww." Sam laughed, sympathetically. "There anything I can do?"

"It's fine. I'll live…"

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Nearly a week after Coyote Creek, Miguel and Hawk were both finally well enough to go back to training. Hawk was relatively unharmed after the fight (just bruises for him), but Miguel had a concussion, a broken nose, 16 stitches, as well as all of the bruises. He wouldn't be able to properly fight for another week or two, but he wanted to get back to training to lightly train.

Johnny grinned as Hawk and Miguel walked into the Miyagi-Do dojo that morning.

"Yes! Finally! They're back!" Johnny exclaimed. "Finally some real men! These pussies have been driving me up the wall for the past week!"

Miguel and Hawk choked back laughter as they saw Daniel's enraged facial expression. It was like today was finally the day that Johnny's insults went a step too far - the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. However, it was about to get a whole lot worse.

"All right! They're back! Finally, we can start planning revenge on Cobra Kai!" Johnny declared. Daniel shook his head.

"We're not retaliating." Daniel stated. Johnny looked at him and raised an eyebrow, his grin fading from his face.

"What? Of course we are! Miguel and Hawk just had their asses handed to them, so we nee…"

"Exactly! Miguel and Hawk nearly died!" Daniel said. "Cobra Kai were three steps ahead of them. If we try and fight them in a street fight, we're not going to win. The best we can do is train harder."

"Mr. Larusso has got a point, Sensei." Miguel said. "Robby and Tory and this new Shawn kid… they're stronger than any of us. We need to train harder. We can't be the ones who start the fight."

Johnny looked at Miguel and he shook his head furiously. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from his favourite student.

"No, no, no. This isn't you talking. This is Larusso drilling that pussy Miyagi's shit in your head." Johnny snapped. Everyone's jaws dropped. Nobody had dared insult Mr. Miyagi before. Daniel's eyes filled with rage and he squared up to Johnny.

"How dare you?" Daniel growled. "How dare you insult the name of that man who saved your life?! Insult me, fine! Insult my students, lame but fi…"

"See, that's just it, Larusso! They aren't _your_ students anymore!" Johnny snapped. "You approached me to team up! You told me that we'd be working together, as partners! So tell me why the hell is it that you make EVERY SINGLE call in this dojo, and I'm forced to just stand in the corner and watch these kids get their asses handed to them?! I'm sick and tired of your dumbass self defense methods! You know what? FUCK THIS! I QUIT!"

Daniel's face dropped with shock.

"You… you what?" He stammered.

"You heard me, Larusso! I don't need this!"

"Johnny… Johnny… come on! We're only going to be able to beat Kreese if we work together!" Daniel said. Johnny chuckled.

"Yeah? I'll take my chances." Johnny growled. "Come on, Miguel. Let's go…"

Everyone turned and looked at Miguel and he blushed like a deer in headlights. It took him several moments for him to gather himself, and he took two steps towards Johnny before stopping.

"You know what? No. This is stupid. I'm staying." Miguel said, standing up to Johnny. Everyone was even more shocked now at this bizarre outburst, most of all Johnny.

"Um… what?" Johnny snapped.

"I said I'm staying." Miguel repeated, more confidently this time. "And you should too, Sensei. You guys didn't see Tory and Robby. They're ruthless now. Planning revenge and starting a fight against them is literally suicide. So I'm staying, whether you like it or not."

Johnny's eyes were wide as saucers. He was speechless. He couldn't believe that Miguel was betraying him, after everything they'd been through. Johnny's eyes snapped around the dojo, and they stopped on an extremely perplexed Sam. HER. This was all her fault. Johnny and Miguel squared up to each other, obviously not about to fight, but neither of them backing down.

"Seriously? After everything we've been through together, you pick her over me?!" Johnny growled, pointing at Sam. Miguel was getting angry himself now. He shook his head furiously.

"This isn't about her." Miguel growled. "This is about YOU not having big enough balls to put your issues with Larusso aside and listen to what the man has to say for once!"

Johnny glared at Miguel, fury in his eyes as he stared down the boy he considered to be like a son to him.

"After everything I've done for you! You were nobody before you met me! I made you who you are! I mentored you! I picked you over my own fucking son…"

"AND I NEVER ASKED YOU TO DO THAT!" Miguel bellowed, finally reaching his exploding point. "You can't blame me for the 16 fucking years you spent abandoning your son! You can't blame me for you not being with your son now! And you sure as hell can't blame me for decisions YOU made WHEN I WAS IN A FUCKING COMA!"

Johnny was about to send another insult Miguel's way but he bit it back and just scowled at Miguel, hints of tears forming in his eyes.

"Fuck you, Miguel." He growled before storming out of the dojo…


	8. Chapter 8

So that was that. Johnny was out of the team. He was done with them. Forever. The kids - well, the kid - who he loved and treated like his own son had betrayed him. For that Larusso girl no less. That family had ruined his life time and time again, and he was done with all of them. Screw them.

The next month was pretty awful for everyone. A dark cloud had been cast over the group. They knew that even with Johnny, their chances of winning the All-Valley was miniscule and without him, they were screwed. Despite his… interesting methods, he was undeniably a good sensei. He made his students faster, stronger, more agile.

His absence was, to nobody's shock, taken the hardest by Miguel. Johnny was like a father to him, and he had been a mentor for him for so long. Without Johnny, Miguel felt extremely lost. He didn't have anyone to help guide him. While Daniel tried hard to connect with Miguel and fill the hole that Sensei Lawrence had left, he knew that Miguel was nowhere near as open with him as he was with Johnny. Not that he was really surprised. After all, Daniel was, at the end of the day, just Miguel's karate sensei and his girlfriend's dad. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Thankfully, the one thing that was playing in their favor was that Cobra Kai had gone quiet again. The last thing they needed would be getting their asses whooped by Cobra Kai on top of everything else.

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Miguel parked his bicycle in the West Valley High car park and locked it, before grabbing his bag and walking into the school. His shoulders were slightly slumped in sadness, as they had been all the time since Johnny's departure. Sensei Lawrence always used to drive him to school, and it used to be one of the high points of his day.

As Miguel switched his books in his locker, he heard a knock on the locker next to him. Miguel looked up to see Hawk.

"What do you want, man?" Miguel sighed. Hawk noticed his friend's expression and he shook his head furiously.

"No! No! You have been sulking about Sensei for a month now! No more of this! This is like longer than you sulked about Sam! If I didn't know better, I think you and Sensei were sneaking a weird, secret relationship behind our backs."

Miguel glared at him and Hawk laughed.

"What? Too soon to joke?!" He asked. "Look, we're all going to go karting tonight..."

"Yeah, I know. Sam told me. I already said I'm not coming." Miguel snapped. Hawk shrugged.

"I don't care! I heard about this new outdoor go karting track in Fontana where the karts go 70 miles an hour. It's gonna be awesome!"

Miguel rolled his eyes.

"Pass." Miguel murmured.

"Nope. No pass. Either you come, or I kidnap you and get my boy tattoo 'Bitch' on your face…"

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"Ayo. Robby!" Kyler said, walking over to Robby after training. Robby glared at him, still seething after Kyler's remarks in Coyote Creek.

"What?" Robby spat.

"I want to apologise. I said some shit at the Creek that wasn't cool." Kyler stammered.

"Yeah, fine, whatever." Robby snapped, not one for apologies.

"And I want to give you an olive branch." Kyler continued. "I know where Diaz and his group are right now. They're at CalSpeed go-karting."

Robby's face went from anger, to delight, to confusion in a matter of seconds as he took in what Kyler was telling him.

"Um… what? How do you know that?" He asked. Kyler grinned.

"It's on Hawk's instagram story. Dumbass forgot to block me when he quit." Kyler stated, handing Robby his phone. His eyes widened as he looked at the picture Hawk had put on his instagram story. Everyone was there: Diaz, Hawk, Sam, everyone. This was their chance.

"Hey, Tory, Shawn, get over here!" Robby shouted. Tory and Shawn walked over to them, confused.

"What?" They asked. Robby smirked at them.

"You ready for some fun…?"

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That afternoon, Demitri, Sam, Chris, Mitch, Hawk and Miguel all walked into the go karting center together. Unfortunately, Bert and Nate were a year too young to participate (there was a minimum age limit of 16) so they couldn't join, but the others could. Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see Miguel there. Since Sensei Lawrence left, Miguel had thrown himself head-first into training and spent every second he wasn't in school beating the crap out of a punching bag and training for the All-Valley. He didn't need Sensei Lawrence in his corner to win the All-Valley.

"Miguel, you're here." Demitri said, voicing everyone's shock to see him in a recreational activity outside of school.

"Yeah. Hawk can be very… persuasive." Miguel murmured. Hawk grinned and slapped Miguel on the back.

"Damn straight." He agreed, before rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Now, let's get this party started!"

For the next 20 minutes, the group were kitted out in fireproof suits and balaclavas, and they were briefed on what they could and couldn't do when out on track. It was a relatively dangerous track with plenty of hills, twists and turns so they were carefully briefed about the meaning of different colored lights, and different colored flags. Miguel knew all of this already: little did people know that before he got into Karate, karting had been his favorite sport and he was pretty darn good at it. The final step before the group got in their respective karts was putting in earpieces and starting a group call with each other so they could talk and communicate while racing.

Finally, it was time for the group to get in their karts. Miguel was seated in the kart at the back, the worst kart, but he didn't care. Despite everything he had been through in the past month, he was excited. He needed something like this to take his mind off everything that was happening. The satisfied pur of the engine vibrated under Miguel's feet as he prepared for the race to start. He could faintly hear Demitri and Sam talking in his earpiece, but he tuned them out as he prepared for the race start. He watched the 5 red lights illuminate on top of the starting line, and when they went out, he roared off the starting line, his quick reflexes enabling him to overtake both Demitri and Chris right off the bat.

10 laps. They had ten laps to put in the fastest time possible. And to do that, Miguel knew that he would need to get to the front of the pack. Fast. Hawk, Sam and Mitch were still ahead of him so he had a lot of catching up to do. Miguel's karting experience came in handy though. He braked for every corner as late as possible, caught every turn at its apex, and wasn't afraid of lead-footing the accelerator.

"Jesus! Miguel! Chill out!" Hawk shouted into his earpiece as Miguel roared past him and waved at him as he went by. Miguel laughed.

"Sorry, buddy. You were the one who invited me to this." Miguel replied, chuckling.

"Yeah, but I didn't know you were an F1 driver!" Hawk exclaimed. Miguel rolled his eyes and stepped on the accelerator, trying to catch up with Mitch, who was currently the second car on the grid. He caught up with him moments later and overtook him and Sam on the same corner.

By the end of the race, Miguel had lapped everyone, and had put in a lap that was nearly 5 seconds faster than anyone else - a truly astronomical margain in the motor racing world. They stepped out of their cars and Miguel was immediately converged upon by his friends.

"What the world was that all about?!" Demitri exclaimed, laughing. "You didn't care to mention that you were some karting legend?"

Miguel shrugged.

"What can I say? I like driving." He replied. He didn't have a car of his own so for a long time, Miguel had relied on karting as his only means of operating a vehicle. "Now, are we going again or what?"

"Fine, but only if you give us a long headstart." Mitch said. Miguel laughed.

"Fine." He replied, and the group began to clamber back into their go-karts. However, just as they were about to light up the traffic lights and begin the race, suddenly, the karting marshall walked onto the track and held up a hand, indicating that they shouldn't start.

"What the hell." Miguel groaned to himself, confused.

"Sorry!" The Marshall called. "Please wait for the rest of the group before you start!"

"The rest of the group?" Hawk asked into their group call earpiece. "Did we invite anyone else?"

"No. No we didn't." Miguel murmured as his heart dropped. He was in the kart at the back of the grid so he had the best angle on the group who were walking towards the grid. Leading the group was someone who still made Miguel's skin crawl: Robby Keene. Accompanying him were Tory, Shawn, Kyler and 2 more Cobra Kai thugs.

"Oh, shit!" Chris exclaimed as he saw them. Everyone on the earpiece went into a frenzy of panic as the Cobras sat in the cars in front of and behind them, effectively surrounding them.

"Guys, shut up!" Miguel snapped into the earpiece moments later, effectively silencing everyone. "Look, I have an idea. Provided, it's not a great idea. It's not even a good idea. It's just an idea…"

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3… 2… 1… GO!

Miguel roared off the starting line but this time, he didn't charge towards his friends ahead of him like he did last time. Instead, he hung back slightly and held up the Cobras behind him, even passed by a couple of them. Miguel smirked as he started to accelerate again. Phase 1 of the plan was complete.

Miguel looked in his wing mirror and saw Shawn accelerating towards him, and he looked in front of him to see Kyler purposely slowing down to push Miguel into him. At this rate, Shawn would be crashing straight into the back of him at 60 miles an hour in a matter of seconds. Just like Miguel thought.

Saying a silent prayer that he didn't screw this up as the consequences would be severe, Miguel stayed exactly where he was, trapped behind Kyler as Shawn barrelled towards him. He watched carefully through his mirrors as Shawn approached, ignoring all of the voices he heard through his earpiece and staying dead-calm.

Finally, when Shawn was a mere second away, Miguel had reached a corner of the track, and the slightly wider track gave him the opportunity to quickly turn into the run-off area, rather than turning into the corner and having Shawn t-bone his kart. This tricked both Shawn and Kyler, and it was so sudden that Shawn didn't have time to brake before going flying into Kyler, sending them both crashing into the barricades. Miguel grinned as he accelerated again.

"YEEEEE HAWWWW!" Miguel laughed as he sped away from the two crashed karts.

2 down. 4 to go.

The two random Cobra Kai thugs were pretty easy to eliminate from the race. All Miguel had to do was swerve into their lane suddenly, and they were so surprised and tried to brake so quickly that they were sent spinning off the track to be helped out of their karts by the marshals. So far, none of what Miguel had done looked in any way deliberate so the marshals hadn't kicked him out yet.

4 down. 2 to go.

Robby and Tory were the only two Cobras left on the track but to Miguel's surprise, they were nowhere near him. They were up ahead, right by… OH CRAP! Both of the two remaining Cobras - Tory and Robby - were converging on Sam. Miguel was quite a bit behind them so he forced himself to push the kart beyond safety limits, reaching 65-70 miles an hour. He was driving faster than cars on the freeway, and it was pretty terrifying as he flung his car around corners in pursuit of Tory, Robby and Sam. The two Cobras seemed to be sandwiching Sam's kart in between them in an extremely similar way to what Shawn and Kyler had just attempted on Miguel, but Sam was a lot less comfortable in a kart than Miguel, so she had no idea what to do.

"MIGUEL! WHAT SHOULD I DO?!" Sam shouted into her earpiece. Miguel gritted his teeth and drove even faster until he was alongside the three karts. Robby, who was the one about to ram into Sam, turned to face Miguel and he winked at him. Miguel's blood boiled but he forced himself to stay calm. Suddenly, Johnny's words flashed through Miguel's head. It was when Johnny was trying to teach Miguel how to learn chess, but had no idea how to play himself. It was one of Miguel's favourite memories of Johnny, and one thing that Johnny said stood out in Miguel's head…

" _Sometimes, to win at Chess, you have to sacrifice your king"_

"Okay, Sam. Listen to me." Miguel said, calmly into his earpiece. Who knew that Johnny's stupid advice might actually save them? "I have a plan, but you're gonna have to trust me, okay? Do you trust me?"

"YEAH, OF COURSE I TRUST YOU!" Sam shouted. "Now, what's the plan?!"

"Please don't hate me for this. I'm so sorry." Miguel murmured.

"For what?!" Sam shouted as she tried desperately to get away from an incoming Robby.

"For this." Miguel growled, before pulling up alongside Sam's car and ramming her off the road, causing both of them to spin off the track but thankfully not hit a barricade - all part of the plan. Robby and Tory, however, weren't so lucky. Sending Sam off the track had sent them flying into each other, crashing and spinning into the barricades. Their karts were broken, but Miguel and Sam's were okay. The two teenagers drove slowly back to the starting line, where the rest of the group were watching on anxiously. They both groaned and got out of their go karts, shaken but otherwise unharmed. But more importantly, they had gotten rid of the Cobra Kais for now.

When Miguel stepped out of his go kart and pulled off his helmet, he was immediately embraced by the whole group. The one guy without a car of his own had managed to send all 6 Cobras into horrible crashes.

"DUDE! THAT WAS AWESOME!" Hawk exclaimed as Miguel limped over. Miguel didn't respond. He first turned to Sam, who was also limping.

"You okay?" He asked. Sam nodded, before looking at him indignantly.

"I can't believe you hit me!" She exclaimed, shaking her left leg, which was the side that Miguel crashed into when he took her off the track. Miguel laughed.

"My bad." He murmured.

"My bad? That's all you have to say for yourself?" Sam giggled. Miguel shrugged.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Miguel pointed out.

"Damn right, it did…"

**Okay, so I know that this chapter was pretty slow. This was on purpose because the last couple of chapters have been really intense, and there are huge events happening in the coming chapters so I need to take my foot off the gas for this one. Having every chapter being intense would minimise the effect and be too tiring for me. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Big next chapter coming soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

_**CHAPTER 9** _

"What happened at the go-karting arena was an embarrassment!" Kreese bellowed at the Cobras later that day. "What a joke! What the hell happened? Keene? What's your excuse?"

Robby looked down in shame.

"No excuses, sensei. Diaz bested us." Robby murmured, blushing furiously. Diaz alone had humiliated 6 Cobra Kai members. Kreese sighed and took out a cigar from his pocket, as well as his cigar cutter, and started cutting it.

"Seems like Diaz has been causing you guys quite a bit of trouble, huh?" Kreese remarked. "Why do you think we're competing in this All-Valley?"

"I'm sorry, what, sensei?" Tory asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why did we agree to the bet with Miyagi-do in the first place? It's not like we agreed to a peace treaty up until the tournament so if we wanted to beat up Miyagi-Do, we can do it whenever we want. It would be a lot faster. So why are we risking this dojo to fight in a tournament, where most decisions are out of our control? Keene?"

Robby didn't know. He had no answer.

"Nichols?"

Tory didn't know either.

"Kyler?"

No answer.

"Well…" Kreese continued. "Because every good story has two sides. But in this story, we are so superior to Miyagi-Do that there aren't two sides anymore. So we had to inject them with something… hope. A little hope is good. It livens the rivalry up a little. But a lot of hope… a lot of hope is dangerous. That's when they start to become a threat."

"So what should we do, sensei?" Robby asked. Kreese grinned, maliciously.

"Well, in 'Nam, when we experienced a threat, there was only one thing to do: you eliminate the threat…"

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"Where should we go for dinner?" Chris asked the group, a couple of days later. They had just finished a long, three hour training session and they were all ravenous.

"Sushi?" Demitri suggested.

"Nah, I had sushi last night." Sam said.

"Italian?" Hawk suggested.

"Nah, I had Italian for lunch." Mitch said.

"Chinese?" Sam suggested.

"Nah, I don't like chinese." Hawk said.

"Indian?" Chris suggested.

"I just said I don't like chinese." Hawk said, rather dumbly. Everyone looked at him, confused.

"Um… indian isn't chinese." Sam pointed out. Hawk shrugged.

"Weird meats. Funny music. Side of rice. Why are we splitting hairs?" Hawk remarked, EXTREMELY politically incorrectly. Man, that kid had more in common with Johnny than even Miguel did.

"Mexican?" Demitri suggested.

"I just said I don't like chinese!" Hawk exclaimed. Everyone put their heads in their hands in frustration.

"Hey, where the hell's Miguel at?" Mitch asked. Everyone nodded and turned to Sam in confusion. Miguel had rushed off immediately, not staying and hanging out like the rest of the group.

"Oh, he has an evening job to help pay the debt from his back surgery." Sam replied.

"I thought we paid for that. We had that whole car wash and everything." Demitri remarked. Sam nodded and glared at Hawk.

"Yeah, I thought so too. Hawk, care to explain?" Sam snapped at him. Hawk blushed.

"Hey, look, it wasn't my idea! Well, it was my idea to steal the money but I just wanted to give it right back to Miguel and say it was from Cobra Kai." Hawk stated. "It was Kreese who ended up spending it on the renovations to the dojo. Apparently, according to him, it is a 'waste to spend money on a fallen soldier.'"

"That's… sad." Demitri remarked. "But that doesn't explain where Miguel is. Where's he working at?"

"Oh, he's waiting tables at that restaurant Briny Beach." Sam replied, the words slipping out before she could stop herself. Everyone's eyes widened.

"Wait… you mean that pirate restaurant where they make their wait staff wear insanely embarrassing pirate outfits?!" Hawk exclaimed, gleefully. Sam blushed and shook her head. Miguel had explicitly told her to not tell anyone he was working there for that very reason.

"No." She replied, unconvincingly.

**30 minutes later…**

The whole group stood at the entrance of the restaurant, waiting for a waiter to direct them to their table. As they looked around at the flamboyantly dressed wait staff, all of them grinned widely.

"I've never been this excited in my life!" Hawk exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in glee. Suddenly, an extremely familiar waiter dressed in a full pirate costume - complete with a fake parrot on his shoulder and a hat and eye patch - walked over to them. Miguel hadn't seen them yet so he put on the traditional pirate accent the manager forced him to put on.

"Welcome to the Briny Beach. Where none of our prices are ever too stee… oh crap." Miguel murmured as he finally looked up and saw the ecstatic expressions on his friends' faces. He groaned.

"Seriously, Sam?!" He exclaimed. Sam blushed and shook her head.

"Sorry! It just slipped out." Sam murmured. Miguel sighed.

"Hi, Miguel!" Hawk grinned cheerfully. "We were just in the neighborhood and thought we'd get some dinner. We didn't even know you'd be here."

"Just come with me." Miguel snapped.

"Woah! I don't think that's how you're supposed to treat customers here at the Briny Beach!" Demitri exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear, as he pulled out his camera and took a photo of Miguel. Miguel sighed, defeated.

"We've got fresh fish, you can look in our tank." Miguel continued, mumbling curse words under his breath between sentences. "To get to the bathroom, take a left at the plank. Follow me to your table…"

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"So, moral of the story of today. The thing I want to express to you the most is that if you trust people, they will always come through for you at the end."

Bobby finished his sermon speech and was about to step down from the podium when he heard a familiar, slurred drunk voice echo through the church.

"BULLSHIT!" Johnny slurred as he stumbled towards Bobby, clearly hammered.

"Johnny, um… what a… pleasant surprise. Again." Bobby remarked. Johnny tripped and stumbled over to the top of the podium, and he snatched the microphone from Bobby, before addressing the entire church.

"Sometimes you give everything you have for someone, and they still stab you in the back!" Johnny announced. The whole church stared at Johnny, appalled and astounded.

"Johnny, can this wait? I'm kind of in the middle of something." Bobby said. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Whatever! These people need to know!" Johnny exclaimed. "Sometimes, you treat someone like a son, do everything you can possibly do for someone, and they still fuck you over!"

"Okay! We're going to take a short break!" Bobby called, and quickly dragged Johnny out of the church and into a small, adjoining room.

The two sat opposite each other, and Bobby was the first to break a brief silence.

"Let me guess… trouble with Miguel?" Bobby asked. Johnny scoffed.

"More like the bitch boy stabbed me in the back. Blindly picked the manipulative, asshole Larusso and his family over me."

Bobby raised an eyebrow. He had met Miguel once before, and after seeing his allegiance to Johnny, he knew that there had to be more to the story than that.

"Seriously? Tell me what happened." Bobby said. Johnny then told him everything and by the end, Bobby chuckled.

"What?" Johnny asked.

"Well, it seems to me that it wasn't Miguel's fault." Bobby remarked. "It seems to me that it was inevitable. That because you and Larusso didn't carve out specific terms in your partnership, given you guys' track record, things were bound to blow up at some point."

"You don't get it, Bobby." Johnny muttered. "I gave this kid everything. I ruined my relationship with my own biological son because of him…"

"And because of that, he is automatically your slave forever?" Bobby remarked. "No! He is entitled to his own opinion! And besides, do you think he likes hearing you bring up Robby?! You gotta remember this is the same kid who nearly killed him. More than once. Miguel's clearly still traumatised, and he needs you, Johnny. Even if he's not admitting it, he needs you. He needs you in his corner, not only physically, but also emotionally. You need to be there for him."

Johnny eventually nodded and put his head in his hands. He had screwed up. He knew it.

"I let him down, Bobby." Johnny murmured. "How do I get him to trust me again?"

Bobby chuckled and shrugged.

"Well, from what I've heard about him, an apology would be a good start…"

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Later that night, Miguel walked into his house to see that his mom and grandma were out of the house, and a note from his mom told him to sort his own dinner out that night. Miguel did that and right before he settled down for the night, he grabbed the garbage bag and took it outside to throw out. He threw the bag in the dumpster and as he walked back towards his house, his eyes lingered on the house next door: Johnny's apartment. Miguel was about to knock on the door and see Johnny but at the last moment, he hesitated. No! Why should he be the one to apologise? As far as he was concerned, it should be Johnny doing so!

Miguel scowled and shook his head, and he started to walk away from Johnny's place and towards his own. However, just as he had a hand on a handle, he heard a car drive up behind him. Miguel turned around and his heart dropped when he saw four people get out of the car: it was Robby, Shawn, Tory and Kyler.

As they advanced towards him, Miguel banged on his sensei's door, hoping and praying that Johnny was home. No luck. Miguel groaned and he started walking towards the four, readying himself for an inevitable fight. He was backed into a corner so he had nowhere he could possibly run.

"What do you want?" Miguel snapped.

"To finish this. Tonight." Robby growled. "Now, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way."

"What's the easy way?" Miguel snapped.

"Well, the easy way is you stop training karate, you don't compete in the All-Valley, and you let Cobra Kai live on forever. The hard way is that we beat you up and injure you so severely that you physically can't compete in the All-Valley." Robby replied. "Now, I'll admit, neither option is great but, you know, people like to have options."

Miguel chuckled.

"Well, let's see. I guess I'll go with Option C." Miguel remarked. Robby raised an eyebrow.

"And what's that one?" Robby asked. Miguel shrugged.

"Well, Option C is the one where I beat the crap out of all four of you." Miguel replied, before lunging at the group, ready to fight…

However, that was NOT how the fight ended up panning out. Not at all. After all, it was a 4 on 1, and against four of the fiercest fighters in the Valley. After defeating Kyler, Miguel was overpowered by the other 3. He lay on the ground, unable to move, as the three kicked the living crap out of him. Miguel looked up at the three merciless Cobras and was suddenly pulled into traumatising flashbacks of Coyote Creek. He truly wasn't good enough to beat Cobra Kai. No amount of punches, kicks and grapples would be able to match Robby.

As this all went on, Johnny drove home from his conversation and when he pulled into the compound and saw the commotion going on, his eyes widened. He dived out of his car and sprinted over, just as Robby flipped an only just conscious Miguel onto his stomach, and grabbed his arm in a similar lock to the one that Miguel had him in during the end of the school fight. Johnny ran over to them, unfazed by Shawn and Tory, who stood in front of Robby and Miguel like bodyguards, and spoke directly to his son.

"Robby, please don't do this." Johnny begged. "Please. Don't punish him for the crap that I've done. He's innocent."

Robby scowled at his dad as he held Miguel's arm even tighter, prepared to snap it at a moment's notice.

"You don't get it, do you?" Robby growled at his dad. "This isn't about you. This stopped being about you when this cunt walked into my life and ruined it."

"Robby… Robby… this isn't his fault. It's mine. It's all my fault."

"Right, 'cause it was you who made Sam cheat on me twice, once while I was IN JUVIE!" Robby shouted. "It's all Miguel! It's always been about Miguel! You ruined my life in so many ways. Cobra Kai and Kreese are the only good things I have going for me now, and so help me God I'm not going to let you and your pussy rebel team take it away from me!"

With that, Robby did what Miguel couldn't during the school fight: Robby finished him. He snapped Miguel's shoulder, causing Miguel to let out a horrifying cry of excruciating pain as he felt his shoulder separate...

**To be continued…**


	10. Chapter 10

Hearing that scream of agony was what made Johnny finally snap: this asshole wasn't his son anymore. There was only so much he could blame himself for in Robby's life, but this was crossing a line. Johnny lunged at the group, saving Miguel the only thing on his mind, and he beat up all four of them. Even the four strongest Cobras didn't stand a chance against Johnny. A flurry of tornado kicks and uppercuts sent the Cobras flying backwards. But Johnny didn't stop there. While Tory, Shawn and Kyler started to slink away, Johnny grabbed Robby and threw him against the wall, pinning him there and sending massive blows to his face. THUD! THUD! THUD! Johnny lost count at the number of blows he had sent Robby's way. He was more angry than he had ever been in his life and he was just about ready to kill the four Cobras, starting with Robby. He continued pounding on Robby's face for several moments before he felt someone pull him back. He spun around, ready to swing at one of the Cobras, when he realised that it was Miguel.

"Sensei, enough!" Miguel spluttered, before falling back to the ground in pain. The distraction gave Robby the opportunity to slink away and join the rest of the Cobras.

The Cobras looked at Miguel, who was silently crying in pain on the ground, and then they looked at Johnny, who was steadily advancing towards them. They realised that if they wanted that night to be a success, they needed to leave NOW. That's exactly what they did. They hightailed it out of there, leaving Johnny to tend to his fallen student.

As soon as they were gone, Johnny sprinted over to Miguel and he knelt down beside him.

"Kid! You okay?" Johnny asked.

"My shoulder is fucking broken! My nose is probably broken! Of course I'm not fucking okay!" Miguel snapped, coughing up blood and spitting out a cracked tooth from his mouth. Screw Coyote Creek, this was the worst he had ever been beaten before. Johnny slowly helped him to his feet and practically carried him over and into his car. Once Johnny climbed into the driver's seat, he turned to Miguel and gave him his phone.

"Call your mom, kid." Johnny said, as they quickly reversed out of the driveway. Miguel tried but with no answer. He groaned and sat back in his seat.

"She's not answering." Miguel murmured, before letting out a gasp of pain. His shoulder was sending sharp sears of pain up his body. He knew it was definitely dislocated, if not broken, and would probably keep him out for a while. He couldn't stay out for too long though. He had an All-Valley to win. Secretly, Johnny was terrified at the sight of his student so beaten down, but he forced himself to stay calm. He had to…

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Daniel sat in the living room of his house with his family, and he sighed to himself as he closed his eyes and thought about Miyagi-Do. He knew that Johnny was party right: he had treated Johnny like an employee, not like a partner, and he had effectively pushed out a valuable part of the team for petty reasons. What would Mr. Miyagi say if he was there? Probably give him some speech about balance. God, what he would give for one of those speeches right now!

His train of thoughts were cut off when he heard a car roar down the street and into his driveway, paying no attention to the speed limit whatsoever. Daniel groaned and stood up, listening to the subsequent banging on his door. He knew EXACTLY who that was. He walked over the door and glared at Johnny.

"What do you wa… OH MY GOD, MIGUEL!" Daniel shouted as he then noticed the boy Johnny was supporting with his non-knocking arm. Miguel looked like he was only just hanging onto consciousness. Bruises and cuts covered every inch of him, and his left arm was sticking out at a sickening angle, clearly broken.

"Help. Please." Johnny grunted, desperation in his eyes. Immediately, Daniel ignored his resentment towards Johnny, and he helped Miguel into the house.

"What the hell happened?" Daniel asked, as Miguel was practically shoved onto the living room couch by Johnny and Daniel, both of them wary of his broken shoulder.

"Robby." Miguel murmured as Johnny slapped an ice pack onto the side of his face, where a massive black eye was flowering.

"Robby did this?!" Daniel asked Johnny, appalled and shocked that his former student could do such a thing. Johnny looked down and nodded. Both men felt slightly responsible for Robby's actions, but they couldn't dwell on it now. Not when Miguel was lying half-dead on the couch in front of them. Suddenly, Sam and Anthony walked into the room and their eyes widened when they saw Miguel on the sofa.

"Oh, my god! Miguel, what happened?!" Sam cried, running over to him.

"Cobras." Miguel mumbled, too tired to go into the gory details, but it was more than enough for Sam to be able to put together a story.

"Damn, someone kicked your ass!" Anthony - Sam's little brother - remarked, slightly rudely and insensitively. Sam scowled at him but Miguel raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Yeah. You should see the other guy though." Miguel responded tiredly. Sam's eyes widened.

"Wait… you beat up all four of them?!" Sam asked, confused. Miguel laughed and then winced in pain.

"I didn't." Miguel smirked, glancing tellingly at Johnny and causing everyone to turn towards the blonde in shock, most of all Daniel. Daniel was scared. Johnny himself had attacked students. Was that enough to warrant Kreese pulling out of his deal, and him, Barnes and Silver coming after their students.

"What?! I didn't have a choice!" Johnny snapped, defensively. Daniel nodded, thinking back to when Mr. Miyagi defended him from four Cobras back in his youth. Clearly Johnny had acted in self-defense, just like Mr. Miyagi did. Suddenly, there was a hard knock on the door: the paramedics had arrived. They walked into the house and immediately noticed Miguel. The two medics rushed over to him, and as they started to gauge the damage, Daniel turned to Johnny.

"We need to talk." Daniel murmured quietly to him. Johnny nodded and followed Daniel into their guest room/dojo, leaving Miguel in the care of Sam and the paramedics…

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Daniel and Johnny walked into the dojo, and Johnny immediately started looking around the room, searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" Daniel asked.

"Booze." Johnny grunted in reply. Daniel's jaw dropped in shock and disapproval.

"Didn't realise it was still happy hour." Daniel remarked. Johnny looked at him and shrugged.

"It's always 5 o'clock somewhere." Johnny winked as he replied, and Daniel merely glared at him. Johnny sighed. "Come on! It's been a long day!"

Daniel nodded in defeat, and he walked over to the corner of the room. He lifted up the Miyagi-do banner on the wall, revealing a small hole in the wall, and he pulled out a bottle of scotch and two glasses. He poured Johnny a glass, who accepted it gratefully. After a long silence as the two men sipped their drinks, Johnny finally spoke up.

"Look, Larusso, about the crap I said about your sensei…"

"It's fine." Daniel grunted. "And it was mostly my fault. Truth is, I haven't been treating our dojo like a partnership. I treated it like it was still Miyagi-Do, and you were my employee. I should have let you have just as much of a say as me when it comes down to decisions. I mean, you did also win the All-Valley twice as a student, and then once as a teacher."

Johnny shook his head.

"No." Johnny grunted, to Daniel's confusion.

"No, what?" Daniel asked.

"No, you shouldn't give me more say. You should just give yourself less." Johnny explained. "You remember what our kids said at that All-Valley hearing? _They're_ the ones fightings. _They_ should also have a say. This isn't Cobra Kai, where you treat your sensei like God. We need to loosen the reins on them. Let them have a say in their training."

Daniel nodded and chuckled.

"Why are our kids smarter than us?" Daniel remarked. Johnny shrugged.

"I mean Miguel was probably smarter than me when he turned 7 in all fairness." Johnny remarked. Daniel laughed.

"Yeah, I believe that." Daniel nodded. Johnny raised an eyebrow, indignantly.

"Hey!" Johnny snapped, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, you said it, not me. I'm just agreeing with you." Daniel stated. "You know, when I found out that my daughter was once again dating the former Cobra Kai top bully and your mentee three months ago, I was just about ready to go down to your house and kick your ass for letting it happen. I assumed that given what I had seen of him in the tournament, and heard about him from Sam after they broke up, he was basically a mini-you."

Johnny chuckled.

"Yeah? You then realise that I would destroy you and you're better off staying home?" Johnny asked. Daniel shook his head.

"No. I actually had a conversation with him for the first time, and I realised something… he must have been an awful Cobra."

Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? That 'awful Cobra' kicked your student's ass in the All-Valley final!" Johnny stated. Daniel shook his head.

"No, no. You misunderstand me. He's an amazing fighter. I just mean that he's nothing like you and your gang back when we were in high school."

Johnny literally laughed out loud when he made the comparison in his head.

"Yeah, he's pretty different, huh? You should have seen him when I first met him. I called him a pussy on his first training session and he started coming at me about genderising and some shit. He went against everything I stood for."

Daniel laughed.

"If he was such a nerd, why did you agree to train him?" Daniel asked.

"Because he was a good kid who was being bullied."

Daniel raised an eyebrow and Johnny understood what he was thinking immediately.

"No. No. No. This is nothing like our time in high school! Johnny snapped. Daniel raised his hands in surrender.

"I didn't say anything!" Daniel exclaimed.

"No, but you're thinking that Miguel is similar to you in high school, which he isn't!" Johnny declared. "Miguel is ten times the man you were. You know why Miguel ended up fighting Kyler in his school? It wasn't because he was being bullied like you did. He would have been just fine living his life normally, with the karate training under his belt just in case. He got into a fight against that gang because they were being assholes to your daughter!"

Daniel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He didn't know that.

"Wait, really?" Daniel asked. Johnny nodded.

"Yeah! And that crane kick in the All-Valley… my idea, not his. He's a good person, much better than either of us, which is why I've been training him for so long and I haven't given up on him. Which is why… if it's okay with you… I could rejoin the dojo?" Johnny asked. Daniel nodded immediately and held out a hand.

"Partners?" Daniel asked. Johnny nodded and shook Daniel's hand.

"Partners." He replied. The two men nodded at each other again, before walking back towards the house to see how Miguel and the doctors were doing.

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"Does it hurt when I do this?" The medic asked, prodding a certain area on Miguel's shoulder, trying to assess the injury done to him. Miguel shook his head.

"No." He replied.

"What about when I do this?" The medic asked, poking another area. Miguel shook his head again.

"Nah." He responded. The medic nodded and smiled, reassuringly.

"What about this?" The medic asked, poking another area. Miguel hissed in pain. Sam squeezed his other hand, comfortingly.

"Yeah, I can feel that." Miguel murmured. The medic slowly nodded.

"Okay." The doctor said. "I need to pop your shoulder back into place. It's going to hurt a fair bit but only for a moment, okay?"

"Gotcha." Miguel murmured as he braced for the pain. It came a moment later, not as bad as he thought it would be, but still extremely painful. Miguel groaned in pain and closed his eyes as his shoulder was reset, the abrupt pain shooting up his arm. Suddenly, Daniel and Johnny walked into the room.

"Come on, doc! Give us the good news!" Johnny exclaimed. The doctor sighed.

"Well, do you want the good news or the bad news first?" The medic asked.

"The good news." Miguel said, hopefully. Please let him not be out for too long! Please let him be able to train again in a few weeks! The All Valley was in mid-June and he needed every bit of training he could get!

"Well, the good news is that there's nothing broken. Your shoulder was dislocated and I just reset it now."

"That's great! So he'll be able to fight again soon?!" Johnny exclaimed. The medic clenched his teeth together and sharply inhaled. Miguel closed his eyes. Oh, God. Something was wrong! Everyone noticed the same thing as Miguel and they all took a deep breath.

"What? What's the problem?" Daniel asked. The medic looked at Miguel when he replied.

"Although there are no broken bones, you do have a lot of ligament damage. You're going to be in a sling for at least two months, and it is going to be tender for another month, at least. Definitely not ready for a fight. You'll be able to fight in like July hopefully, provided you get the right physical therapy and treatment."

Everyone slowly absorbed what the doctor had just told them. Johnny was the first to react.

"Wait… July? That means that…"

"I'm out of the tournament..." Miguel murmured.


	11. Chapter 11

_**CHAPTER 11** _

That night, Miguel didn't say another word to anyone. He really didn't feel like talking to anyone about it, not even Sam. He had gotten his ass kicked multiple times for what? He wasn't going to be able to compete in the All-Valley anymore! That bitch Robby had ruined his life time and time again! Miguel left the Larusso house and because they had taken Johnny's car when they had driven over there, Miguel didn't have a car to drive anywhere. Instead, he walked off into the night, not telling anyone where he was, where he was going, and what time he was going back.

It had been four, nearly 5, hours and nobody had heard from Miguel. They were all starting to get worried. Johnny had told Miguel's mom and grandma about what had happened, so they were waiting in Carmen's apartment nervously, hoping Miguel surfaced soon. Sam had also been put on alert, and her and Johnny drove around the city, looking at any place that Miguel might be. The two of them knew Miguel better than anyone in the world, better than even Carmen and Rosa, so if anyone could find him, it would be them.

Time ticked on as Carmen and Rosa waited at the apartment and Johnny and Sam scoured the city for him. Soon, the clock hit 3 and everyone was just about ready to call the cops. Johnny had gone home to wait with an extremely worried Carmen and Rosa, and Sam had one more place to check before she went home for the night.

Sam snuck into the dark, deserted school, taking a side entrance so she could evade the weekend security. She walked straight towards the cafeteria and sure enough, there was Miguel, sitting on one of the benches in the corner of the room. Sam smiled, relieved, and walked over to him. He nodded at her as she sat down and curled up beside him.

"Hey." Miguel murmured.

"Hey." Sam said, gently. "Why haven't you been answering your phone? Everyone's really worried about you?"

"My phone's dead." Miguel said, but Sam knew he was lying. He just didn't want to be found by anyone. Sam didn't press him though. She just sent a quick text to Johnny to let him know that she had found him, before putting her own phone away. "How'd you know I'd be here?" Miguel asked.

"This is where you fought Kyler and those guys when they were bullying me last year." Sam said. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, it was the first time I was finally able to stand up to my bullies." Miguel said. "My whole life, I'd been running. This was the first time I actually managed to stand up for myself."

"And for me." Sam added, leaning her head on his shoulder. "You know, I've never had a guy fight for me before."

Miguel chuckled.

"It's not like you even needed me." Miguel remarked. "You probably could have kicked the crap out of all of them by yourself. Back then, you were a lot better at Karate than I was."

"Back then?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "More like always! I'm still better than you now!"

"Woah, woah, woah, don't push your luck." Miguel remarked, smiling faintly. "You might have been better than me back then but I think you're forgetting that you're looking at the All-Valley champ."

"That's only because I didn't compete. You wanna test your luck against me, right here, right now?" Sam asked. Miguel was about to stand up, but he then remembered his left arm in the sling and he sighed. Sam then noticed and her smile faded quickly from her face. "Miguel, I'm sorry. I didn't…"

"It's fine." Miguel muttered quickly, a frown now etched on his face.

"Miguel, you just need to…"

"Look, Sam, I'm really not in the mood for a pep talk." Miguel snapped, interrupting her rather rudely. He sighed and continued a lot more quietly. "I'm sorry. It's just, I'm really pissed right now. Robby's nearly killed me three times in the past 6 months. He's ruined my life, and the lives of everyone I care about, and I'm helpless to stop him! HIS side made the bet! HIS side made the rules! But when he realised that maybe we can beat him anyways, he ends the fucking game!"

"Hey, the game isn't over!" Sam exclaimed. "You're still going to train with us and…"

"No, I'm not! I'm done with Karate! I can't fight for another 3 whole months at the minimum! There's no chance of me getting back in time! I'm done, Sam! I really am!"

"You don't mean that." Sam murmured. It was killing her to see her boyfriend, who normally was so full of joy and life, sound so… broken.

"I do, Sam! I can't do this anymore!" Miguel exclaimed. Sam sighed and put a comforting arm around him.

"Look, Miguel, why don't I drive you home? You can get some rest. If you still feel this way in the morning, then we can have this conversation." She said, offering him a hand up. Miguel took it and they walked out of the school together.

The drive back to Miguel's house was completely silent. Sam attempted to start conversations but Miguel replied with one word answers. Sam could sense his frustration, and she couldn't blame him to be honest. If she was in his position, she would be reacting a lot less calmly than he was.

They parked at Miguel's house moments later, and Miguel stepped out of the car. After quickly saying good night to Sam, Miguel took a deep breath and walked into the house. There was no telling how pissed his mom would be.

Miguel walked into his house and mostly ignored Johnny, Carmen and his yaya, who were sitting in the living room. In fact, he walked right past all of them and went straight into his room, slamming the door behind him. Johnny and Carmen looked at each other, nervous, and Johnny decided to be the one to approach Miguel. He walked into his student's familiar room and saw Miguel rummaging through some drawers in his room.

"Hey, kid." Johnny said, gently, as he stood in the doorway. Miguel briefly looked up at him, and Johnny saw the expression on Miguel's face. It wasn't anger - it was even worse than that: it was defeat.

"What do you want?" Miguel snapped.

"You gave as all quite the scare there." Johnny said. "Where were you?"

Miguel shrugged, not answering, and Johnny then looked at all of the stuff Miguel was throwing out of his drawers. It was all of his Karate stuff.

"Um… what are you doing?" Johnny asked.

"You want any of this?" Miguel asked, tossing Johnny various items, including his gi, his fitness equipment, and more.

"Miguel, why are you giving away your stuff?" Johnny asked. "Sure you might be injured now, but we're gonna get through this together, just like that bad injury. You're gonna be back in fighting shape before you even know it."

"No, I'm not. Because I'm quitting Karate." Miguel murmured, tossing his All-Valley trophy - his most prized possession - at Johnny, who caught it easily.

"What… what… what are you doing?" Johnny stammered.

"Karate has caused me nothing but pain, and I'm done!" Miguel spat. "It has rejected me like a bad organ transplant and honestly, I'm done trying to fight it!"

"No, Miguel… please." Johnny begged. "You don't mean that! You love Karate!"

"I DON'T! NOT ANYMORE!" Miguel shouted. "Karate has fucked up my life so badly so honestly, fuck it!"

With that, Miguel grabbed his All-Valley trophy and snapped it over his knee, breaking it into four or five pieces, and he threw it at the ground, shattering it further. Johnny gasped, and his eyes widened. Miguel seemed like a man possessed.

"Miguel, Miguel, stop!" Johnny shouted, trying to grab Miguel's good arm, but Miguel spun around and slapped it away.

"Get out of my room! NOW!" Miguel shouted, suddenly taken back to that day Johnny came to visit him in the hospital. He should have known then to just throw in the towel and quit Karate. Johnny slowly accepted defeat and slunk out of Miguel's room. When he walked back into the living room, Carmen walked over to him.

"So? Is he okay?" Carmen asked, concerned. Johnny sighed as she wrapped her arms around him. Little did Miguel know, little did anyone know, that Carmen and Johnny had been dating ever since the day of the All-Valley hearing. They hadn't told anyone as they didn't want to jinx it, but it had been four months now and it was going REALLY well.

"He's frustrated, as can be expected." Johnny said. "His shoulder's not going to be well enough in time for the All-Valley so he wants to quit Karate all together."

"Well, as much as I want my son out of this karate war, I also know that he needs karate." Carmen stated. "And if anyone can work healing miracles when it comes to Miguel, it's you."

Johnny nodded and thought deeply. He kissed his girlfriend, Carmen, and she sighed.

"You know we're going to have to tell Miguel about us soon." Carmen murmured. Johnny nodded, his mind still with what Carmen had said moments before about miracles.

"Yeah, sure. Soon…"

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The next morning, at 6 am, less than 3 hours after he had gone to sleep, Miguel felt a sharp kick on the edge of his bed.

"Get up!" He heard Johnny snap. Miguel groaned and opened his eyes.

"What? Leave me alone!" Miguel groaned, his eyes closing again.

"Shut up!" Johnny shouted, and Miguel suddenly felt a spray of frigid-cold water on his back. Miguel's eyes snapped open and he leapt to his feet. Johnny was standing over him, holding a water gun in his hands.

"What the hell, Sensei?!" Miguel shouted. Johnny practically dragged him outside. The sun was only just rising and Miguel was still half asleep.

"Miguel, when you broke your back, you and I took a permanent paralysis and cured it in 3 months. This shoulder injury is tiny! Only a pussy would use that injury as an excuse to not fight!"

"Sensei, it's a legitimate injury." Miguel murmured. Johnny shook his head and dragged him over to a carved out chalk circle that he had made earlier that morning, with what seemed like a pull up bar on top of it.

"Okay. Here. Grab onto the bar." Johnny demanded. Miguel obliged and grabbed it, his feet barely dangling off the ground. Even just this simple exercise sent waves of excruciating pain up and down his dislocated shoulder.

"Ow! Ow! Shit! Sensei! I gotta let go!" Miguel exclaimed. Johnny chuckled.

"Not so fast." He murmured. "Sometimes you just need the right… motivation to stay on."

With that, Johnny took out a small bottle of gasoline, before pouring it around the carefully marked circle and lighting it ablaze. Miguel's eyes widened as the circle of flames inches below him roared hungrily, daring him to let go of the bar and submit to them. Miguel clung onto the bar for dear life, his arm temporarily forgotten as he stared down at the flames.

"WHAT THE HELL, SENSEI?!" Miguel shouted.

"Come on! Stay on! Don't want to get burned now, do you?!" Johnny stated. Miguel groaned, ignoring his arm pain and dangling himself mere inches from the fire. His training had officially begun…


	12. Chapter 12

"Come on, guys! You've gotta work harder!" Daniel exclaimed. Everyone but Miguel and Johnny were at Miyagi-Do training later that day, but the group were extremely unmotivated. Their kata was extremely sloppy and they all donned massive frowns on their face. Daniel sighed.

"Okay. Stop! Stop! Demitri, what's the problem?" Daniel asked.

"Why are we doing this, Mr. L?!" Demitri exclaimed. "Why are we still training for this dumb tournament? We're never going to win anyway!"

"Of course we are! We just need to train harder!" Daniel stated.

"Bullshit. We're not winning without Miguel. You know it. We know it. So why are we wasting our time here?" Hawk murmured.

"BECAUSE WE FUCKING HAVE TO!" Sam finally bellowed. All of her emotion from the past 24 hours had boiled up and she finally exploded. "Miguel's fucking gone, whether you like it or not! He's not coming back to training! Kreese was right! This has become a war, and Miguel is our first casualty! So we can either wallow in our pit of misery, or we can get our fucking shit together and win this tournament for him! And if anyone here doesn't want to give 110% of their effort, you can walk out the door right now because YOU'RE FUCKING USELESS!"

Sam NEVER swore, and to hear her have a colossal outburst like that was a massive jolt to the systems of all of the defeated Miyagi-Dos. Eventually, the long silence in the group was broken when Hawk spoke up.

"Yeah. Sam's right. Let's do this. For Miguel…"

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"You broke Diaz's arm?" Kreese asked, slowly, next Cobra Kai training as the four Cobras stood before him.

"Well, his shoulder, but… yeah." Robby replied. Kreese stared at them solemnly for a couple of seconds before breaking out into a massive, evil grin.

"Well done, Keene." Kreese laughed evilly. "So he's out of the tournament. Miyagi-Do's only threat has been squashed! That's great, but let's start training. Nichols, lead the warm up!"

Kreese then walked into his office, and moments later, Robby knocked on the door. Kreese looked up and smiled.

"Come in, my son." Kreese said. Robby nodded and walked into the room. Kreese could immediately tell that Robby was holding something back. "Something's up. What's ailing you, son?"

"Why did you make us do that to Diaz?" Robby asked. "I would have beaten him in the tournament, even without him having a broken shoulder."

Kreese sighed and nodded.

"Do you why we lost in 'Nam?" Kreese asked, pointing to the picture of him in the Army, which was hanging on the wall. "We had superior weapons, more soldiers, everything was in our favor."

"So why'd you lose?" Robby asked.

"Because we got cocky." Kreese replied. "We knew that we had the upper hand, so we sat back on our laurels and then suddenly, in the blink of an eye, we didn't have the upper hand anymore. We were defeated. From then on, I vowed never to let my troops become complacent. We show _no mercy_ in Cobra Kai. Do you have a problem with that, Mr. Keene?"

Robby took a deep breath and shook his head.

"No, Sensei." Robby replied. Internally, he put his head in his hands. What had he become?

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A week later, Miguel had to admit, his arm was feeling a lot better but he knew that at this rate, he still wouldn't be able to fight in June. Despite Sensei Lawrence's best efforts, getting his arm back in fighting shape was an extremely long process.

That afternoon, Miguel walked into Sensei's apartment and he almost passed out… lying on the living room sofa, covered in blankets, were his very naked mom and sensei!

"Aarrrggghhhhh! Oh, my God!" Miguel shouted, tripping over his own feet in his shock and covering his eyes. His sensei and mom cried out in surprise as well as they scrambled to cover themselves more. Miguel scrambled to his feet to run out of the apartment but he fell over again. "DAMN IT! WHY ARE THE FLOORS SO SLIPPERY?!" He shouted in frustration. Miguel eventually managed to get to his feet, and he sprinted out of the apartment, running into his place and locking his bedroom door shut. He stumbled over to the bathroom, attempting to rinse out his eyes to forget the image he just saw. It was plastered in his mind and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it out. He was still out of breath in shock. What the hell had he just witnessed?

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"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Carmen cried as she scrambled to put on clothes after Miguel had run out of Johnny's apartment.

"It's fine. Maybe he didn't see anything." Johnny remarked, a lot more calm than Carmen although he was feeling just as awkward.

"Johnny, he screamed, fell over and ran out of here like he was on fire!" Carmen exclaimed. "Miguel's probably in my apartment and he's probably traumatised!"

"Oh, come on! I'm sure it's not that big a deal." Johnny said, shrugging it off. "He's turning 16 next week, and he's had a couple of girlfriends. He's probably done it himself."

Carmen closed her eyes, shook her head and raised a hand to cut off her boyfriend.

"Please. One issue at a time." Carmen remarked. Johnny sighed.

"Look, all I'm saying is that it's not as big of a deal as you're making it out to be. He's not a little kid. Besides, now he knows we're together so no need for that awkward conversation." Johnny said. Carmen looked at Johnny and raised an eyebrow.

"You know we're going to still have to talk to him, right?" Carmen told him. It was Johnny's turn to look confused.

"Huh? Why not? I think what he just walked in on says plenty!" Johnny responded. Carmen rolled her eyes and dragged him towards the door.

"Come on." She snapped as they walked towards Carmen's apartment.

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"I'm telling you, I'm going to be unseeing that! I've seen some horrific stuff in my life, but this… this was a whole other level of gross!" Miguel ranted to Sam over facetime. Sam giggled at the traumatised expression on Miguel's face. He looked more scared now than he had when facing Cobra Kai.

"Come on, it can't have been that bad!" Sam exclaimed. Miguel shook his head, furiously.

"Oh, no, it was!" Miguel remarked. "Imagine you walk in on…"

"My mom and dad?" Sam asked. Miguel shook his head.

"No, that would be fine." Miguel stated. "Well, not fine. That would be horrifying in its own way, but at least they're a married couple. Imagine walking in on Mr. Miyagi and your mom, doing the dirty, on the living room sofa where you sit all the time!"

"Okay, that's pretty bad!" Sam remarked, before groaning and covering her face with her hands. "Damn it, Miguel, why'd you make me picture that?!"

"SEE! SEE!" Miguel exclaimed, triumphantly. "It's weird to even think about! Imagine actually seeing that image live!"

"Awwww, I'm so sorry." Sam laughed. Suddenly, Miguel heard Carmen and Johnny enter the apartment. They would probably be at Miguel's room in about a minute.

"Oh crap, now comes the even worse part." Miguel remarked.

"What's that?" Sam asked.

"I already know my mom's going to want to talk about it, and that's going to lead to an unwanted conversation." Miguel stated. Sam's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"And that's a bad thing because…?" She asked. Miguel shrugged.

"Oh, come on! It's always easier to lie and pretend something didn't happen than to have the unwanted conversation!" Miguel exclaimed. Sam raised an eyebrow. Well, that was exactly what you wanted to hear from your boyfriend! Miguel realised what he had said a second after it had come out of his mouth and he stammered to take it back. "I mean, other than with you. Because with you, um… talking about things is much better… 'cause um…"

"Miguel, relax!" Sam giggled at his sudden discomfort. "I know you're not going to cheat because you know I'd dump your ass so hard if you did! And then I'd kick your ass too!"

"Ahaha that's funny." Miguel rolled his eyes. "You know, when my shoulder's better, we really need to sort out this argument about which of us is the better fighter once and for all!"

"Yeah, we really do!" Sam laughed. "How's your shoulder by the way?"

"It's okay." Miguel sighed. "It's definitely healing, but I probably won't be in fighting shape for the All-Valley. Anyways, I gotta go, babe. I can hear my mom walking towards my room outside."

Sam laughed at her boyfriend's fear.

"Okay, I lo… talk soon." She said, before quickly hanging up the phone and taking a deep breath. She had come extremely close to accidentally slipping out the L word, but managed to bite her tongue and stop herself just in time. She had been feeling it for a while and this wasn't the first time it had almost slipped out. However, she couldn't say it yet because she didn't want to pressure him into saying it back if he wasn't ready. Little did she know, he was going through the exact same thing, but he didn't want to say it so as not to pressure her into saying it back.

A couple of moments after Miguel was off the phone, he heard a knock on his door, and Johnny and Carmen walked into his room.

"Hey." Miguel murmured, not able to look Johnny and his mom in the eye after what he had seen.

"Hey. What are you doing?" Carmen asked, concerned. Miguel shrugged.

"Well, I was just looking at enlistment opportunities in the Marine Corps. I thought maybe a couple of tours of Afghanistan and seeing my fellow soldiers die on the battlefield would finally help me forget about what I just saw." Miguel remarked. Johnny snorted in laughter but a stern look from Carmen quickly wiped the grin off of his sensei's face.

"Look, Miguel, about what you saw…" Carmen started, but Miguel interrupted her.

"So, what? You guys are just casually banging when no one's around?" Miguel asked.

"No! Miguel! Don't be gross!" Johnny exclaimed. Miguel looked at his sensei and had to hold back a laugh.

"I'm sorry, you're telling me you've never slept with someone with no intention of having a relationship with them?" Miguel remarked to Johnny, cracking up laughing at the end part. He couldn't even get through that one sentence with a straight face. Johnny glared at him but even Carmen couldn't hold back a smile.

"Look, Miguel, this isn't just some dumb hookup." Johnny said. "We've been seriously dating ever since the day of the All-Valley hearing in November."

"You mean 4 months ago?!" Miguel exclaimed. "And neither of you told me?!"

"I'm so sorry, Miguel. Things were just going really well and we didn't want to jinx it by telling people, and…"

"Okay, okay, okay, slow down." Miguel murmured, his hands on the sides of his head as he attempted to take in the bombshell that Johnny and his mom had just told him. "I've got like a ton of questions."

"Fire away." Johnny said. Miguel took a deep breath.

"Okay, so you guys started dating the night of the All Valley hearing?" Miguel asked. Carmen shook her head.

"No, we actually went out the night before the school fight, but we broke things off when you got injured." Carmen replied.

"Yeah, that night is just the night we hooked up and the night we got back together." Johnny added. Miguel slowly nodded.

"Okay. And you've been dating ever since?" Miguel asked.

"Yeah, we have." Carmen replied.

"Um… okay. Next question. Isn't there a slight… age difference between the two of you. Like Sensei, I love you but, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, you are kinda old." Miguel stated.

"Hey!" Johnny exclaimed, indignantly. Miguel was right though. There was nearly a 20 year age gap between them, with Johnny 52 and Carmen 34. Carmen nodded and put an arm around Johnny.

"Yes, there is a slight age gap between us, but love doesn't care about age." Carmen said.

"And I act younger than I am." Johnny stated. Miguel chuckled.

"Okay, sure. And how long did it take me to teach you how to use Facebook agai… wait!" Miguel cut himself off, his eyes widening when he realised what his mom had just said. "Love? You guys love each other?"

Carmen kissed Johnny and Miguel closed his eyes out of sheer awkwardness.

"Yeah, yeah we do." Carmen said. Miguel's jaw dropped.

"Um… isn't it a bit soon? I mean, you guys have only been dating for three months." Miguel stated. Johnny shrugged.

"If this year has taught me anything, it's that life can change everything in the matter of seconds. Better treasure every moment you have with the people you love because you don't know when it will all be taken away." Johnny remarked. Miguel was absolutely floored.

"Wow, um… sensei… that was, um… actually insightful." Miguel stammered, struggling for words. He was extremely taken aback by Johnny's comment, and he stood up. He needed to go somewhere.

"Look, like I said, I love both of you and I'm happy and interested to see where this relationship goes. But you have to promise me one thing?"

"What?" Johnny and Carmen asked.

"You've gotta promise me that if you guys break up, it won't affect my relationship with either one of you because I can't lose either of you. Can you promise me that?" Miguel asked.

"Promise." They replied. Miguel smiled and nodded.

"Awesome. Look, I'm really sorry but I gotta go somewhere…"

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Miguel cycled over to the Larusso house as fast as he could, and he parked his bike in his usual place at the corner of the driveway. He knocked on the door and moments later, Amanda opened the door.

"Oh, hey Mrs. Larusso!" Miguel said.

"Hey, Miguel." Amanda said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Could I see Sam real quick?" Miguel asked. Amanda nodded.

"Yeah, she's up in her room." Amanda replied. "How's your shoulder doing?"

"Much better, thanks. Hopefully soon I can get rid of this ridiculous sling." Miguel replied. Amanda laughed.

"Well, just don't push yourself too far and injure yourself even more." Amanda said caringly. Miguel nodded and walked upstairs to Sam's familiar room. She was working on a school project when he walked in, and her face brightened considerably when she saw him.

"Hey, Miguel, how'd the conversation go with your mom and Johnny?" Sam asked. Miguel laughed.

"Kinda shocking, not gonna lie. They've apparently been dating for 4 months." Miguel said. Sam's eyes widened.

"Wow, really?" She asked, surprised. Miguel nodded. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, and that's not why I'm here. I'm here because of something Sensei Lawrence said. He said treasure every moment you have with the people you love because you don't know when it will all be taken away.'"

"Johnny said that? But that's actually… profound!" Sam exclaimed, extremely surprised. She was just as shocked as Miguel. She had never heard Johnny say a sentence that didn't contain at least 1 insult.

"Yeah, and he has a point." Miguel said, before taking a deep breath. Here it goes… "I almost died this year. God could've extremely easily snapped his fingers and I wouldn't wake up from the coma."

"Miguel, don't say that!" Sam murmured.

"But he didn't. I'm alive today. I'm happy, healthy, surrounded by people I care about. God gave me a second chance and I am NOT going to screw it up, because I don't know when God is going to punch out my ticket on Earth. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, and if I do, I don't want to die with any regrets. So I want to say something, and you don't have to say it back. You don't have to feel the same way, but I just thought you should know that I do. I… I love you, Sam."

After Miguel had finished professing his feelings, there was a short silence that for him felt like an eternity.

"I'm… um… I'm gonna go…" Miguel stammered, and he started to walk towards Sam's bedroom door, but he was stopped when he felt Sam grab the sleeve of his jacket and turn him back towards her. She leaned in and kissed him, before breaking apart to finally speak after getting over her shock.

"I love you too…"


	13. Chapter 13

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Miguel blinked sleep out of his eyes and smiled widely. He had just woken up and brushed his teeth, before walking into the living room and seeing his family standing in the dining room, holding Happy 16th Birthday banners.

"Wow!" Miguel murmured, still waking up, as he gave his family hugs. It was February 26th, finally the date of his 16th birthday.

"Happy birthday, Miggy!" His mom exclaimed, kissing him on the forehead. "I can't believe you're 16! Okay, I know you're going out with your friends later but I thought we could have breakfast before you go and give you your gifts."

"Thanks, mom. That sounds great." Miguel said, appreciatively, as Johnny, Carmen, Miguel and his yaya sat down together for a delectable feast that Miguel's yaya had made. It was a combination of all of Miguel's favourite food: pancakes, waffles, crispy, juice strips of bacon, and vats and vats of dulce de leche. It was an absolutely divine meal, and the day only went uphill from there. After breakfast, Miguel was given presents from his mom and from his sensei. His mom and grandma gave him their combined gift first. Miguel held the small wrapped box in his hands and shook his head gently.

"Now, how did you get a remote control fire truck inside of here?" He joked.

"Stop!" Carmen laughed.

"A train set?" He joked.

"No. Open it!" She exclaimed.

"Hmm. BB Gun?" Miguel joked again.

"No. Better." She said. Miguel nodded and started to unwrap it.

"Okay. I don't know what's better than a BB Gun though." He remarked. He finally unwrapped the gift and opened the box. He gasped when he saw the gift staring back at him. It was an incredible, handsome watch.

This wasn't a boy's watch; it was a man's watch. It was black and silver, with a stainless steel strap and a large black face. Miguel looked at his mom, in shock. A gift like that couldn't have been cheap, and Miguel knew better than anyone about his family's financial troubles.

"Wow, um… mom… this is amazing!" Miguel exclaimed.

"It was your abuelo's watch." Miguel's yaya explained to him in Spanish. "He wanted you to have it when you turned 16."

Well that made more sense. It was his grandmother's husband's watch (his grandfather's), and it had been passed down to him. Miguel absolutely loved it. He put it around his wrist and hugged his grandmother and mother.

"Thank you so much, you guys." Miguel said, as he gazed at the gift on his wrist.

"Ok, my turn." Johnny said. Miguel looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"You got me a gift?" Miguel asked. "You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did." Johnny rolled his eyes. "So I got you one big gift and one small gift."

"Jesus, that's a lot, Sensei." Miguel remarked. "You don't need to get me a gift. You do enough for me as it is."

"Too late." Johnny stated, before walking into the other room and returning moments later with Miguel's All-Valley trophy in his hands.

"Wow, Sensei…" Miguel was lost for words as he stared at an identical trophy to the one he hated himself for breaking that night. "How did you…"

"It wasn't much." Johnny said. That was a lie. He had painstakingly tracked down the company that had made Miguel's first All-Valley trophy, and had begged them to remake their old, last-year trophy model so it would look exactly like Miguel's trophy from the championship. Johnny had originally tried to piece together Miguel's broken trophy after he smashed it against the ground a couple of weeks before, but gave up on that after a day when he realised how many miniscule pieces there were. Instead, he had driven 2 and a half hours to Victorville, California, and bought the new one.

"Thank you so much, sensei!" Miguel exclaimed, giving his Sensei a hug. Johnny smiled at him. After everything that had happened in his relationship with Robby, spending so much time with Miguel and his family truly made him feel like he had a son.

"It was no problem, kid." Johnny replied. "And hey, that wasn't even your big gift from me!"

"It wasn't?" Miguel asked, confused. Obviously, Miguel had grown up in poverty so he wasn't used to such extravagant birthday presents, or birthday presents at all actually.

"Of course not! Your big gift's outside!" Johnny exclaimed. Miguel, perplexed, stood up and followed his Sensei outside. When he stepped outside, he looked at his sensei, confused. There, in front of him, was Johnny's old Dodge Challenger, that used to have the Cobra Kai paint on it. However, now, the Cobras and the snakes on the car had all been painted over: it was now just a matt black car, and it looked incredible. Miguel didn't think too much of it though. He just assumed Johnny had finally managed to track down his old car and was sick and tired of driving his '93 Dodge Caravan that he had stolen from the Larussos.

"Um… Sensei… what am I looking at? You found your old car? Ooh, can I drive it sometimes? Is that my gift?" Miguel asked, excitedly. Johnny suddenly pressed something into his hands and Miguel looked down to see that it was the car keys.

"It's not my car. It's yours now." Johnny replied. Miguel's jaw dropped. His mind was whirring at hundreds of miles an hour.

"Um… what?" Miguel asked. "You're giving me the car?"

"Yup." Johnny nodded. "After the school fight, I lost it and I had no idea where it was up until like a month ago. Then, somehow, by a miracle of luck, it got towed to Larusso's dealership. He recognised it and called me. I knew your 16th birthday was coming up so I decided to get the car ready to give to you today. I got it re-painted obviously, and Larusso replaced the engine as it was broken when I got the car back, and he apparently had his men make some extra adjustments to the horsepower and speed of the car for you as a free bonus. The car's yours now."

Miguel was speechless. In fact, tears sprung to his eyes as he was comprehending what Johnny was telling him.

"Wow, um… Sensei… I… I don't… I don't know what to say." Miguel stammered, still unable to string words together. Johnny looked at him and noticed the tears in Miguel's eyes. He groaned.

"Damn it, Diaz, don't get all emotional on me!" Johnny remarked. Miguel didn't respond. He just threw his arms around his sensei, and Johnny's tough exterior immediately melted. He eventually put his arms around his student and returned the hug.

"Thank you so much, Sensei. Thank you." Miguel murmured as they broke apart.

"No problem, kid. Happy Birthday." Johnny said. Miguel smiled and turned to his family.

"Thank you so much, you guys. Best birthday ever." Miguel said, hugging all of his family members, before heading back into the apartment to quickly change out of his pajamas, ready to drive his new car.

"Day's about to get a whole lot better, kid." Johnny murmured to himself, before pulling out his phone and dialling a number.

"Hello?" The man answered the phone almost immediately.

"Hey, Larusso! Hearing's in a couple of hours. You ready?"

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"DUDE! What the hell?!" Hawk exclaimed as Miguel pulled up outside his house later that day in his new car. "You got a freaking car?!"

"Yup. Birthday gift from Sensei Lawrence." Miguel laughed, revving the engine mockingly at Hawk as his friend clambered into the passenger seat of the sports car.

"No fair! How come he doesn't buy me a car for my birthday?!" Hawk whined.

"Well, first of all, you already have a car, dumbass." Miguel remarked. "And second, you go through what Sensei and I have been through in the past year, and I guarantee you he'll buy you a frickin' plane!"

Hawk laughed.

"So, how fast can she do?" He asked. Miguel shook his head.

"You know, I really don't know. Apparently Mr. Larusso's mechanics made some free tweaks to the car to speed it up, but I haven't gone flat out yet."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Hawk asked. Hawk and Miguel looked at each other and grinned, before Miguel sped away towards an abandoned road, preparing to flatten the pedal and test the limits of the car…

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"120! 140! 160! HOLY SHIT MIGUEL, SLOW DOWNN!" Hawk screamed like a little girl as Miguel ripped his way down an abandoned road, watching the speedometer reach 165 miles per hour before finally slowing down. He could tell the car could do more, but he didn't want to risk crashing so he slowly slowed to a halt and turned to his friend.

"So, what do you think?" Miguel grinned. Hawk laughed.

"Dude, you have gotta let me drive!" Hawk exclaimed. Miguel sighed and got out of the car. The two boys switched places so Hawk was in the driver's seat and Miguel was in the passenger's seat.

"One scratch on this car and I kill you." Miguel threatened, jokingly. Hawk laughed.

"Okay, _MOM_. Let's ride!" Hawk stated, before ripping his way back down the road and back towards the city. They drove for around 20 minutes before Hawk parked the car and Miguel looked at him, confused. They were meant to be going to the movies that night with the rest of the Miyagi-Dos, but this wasn't the movie theater. This was the All Valley Sports Arena, the venue of the All-Valley Karate tournament.

"Um… dude, what are we doing here?" Miguel asked, confused. Hawk shrugged and got out of the car.

"Come on. Let's go. We don't wanna be late." Hawk said.

"Late for what?!" Miguel asked. Hawk didn't respond, and Miguel followed him into the arena where he had won the All-Valley tournament 8 months ago. However, they didn't walk towards the various courts, gyms and karate mats. Instead, Hawk led him up to the top floor of the building, which was taken up entirely by offices and conference rooms. Outside one of the conference rooms were Sam, Daniel and Johnny.

"Hey, happy birthday, Miguel!" Daniel said.

"Yeah, happy birthday, babe!" Sam exclaimed, kissing him quickly. Daniel averted his eyes. Although he wasn't happy his baby girl was dating anyone, if she had to date someone, let it be someone as sweet and kind as Miguel and not someone like Kyler. "I've got your gift in my car. I'll give it to you after this. Hopefully everything goes well."

Miguel was even more confused now.

"Okay, what is this? What on Earth is going on?" Miguel asked.

"You'll see. Here, wear this!" Johnny remarked, before reaching into his bag and tossing Miguel's old arm sling at him. Miguel caught it and basically gave up on asking questions and did as he was told. Moments later, the whole group walked into a conference room. Sitting at the front were four adults, and Daniel quickly joined them. Johnny and the teenagers, however, sat in the seats at the back of the room.

"Miguel, just sit down, shut up, and if anyone asks you any questions, be sure to milk the arm injury, okay?" Johnny whispered to him.

"Sensei, what's going on?" Miguel whispered back, desperately. Johnny grinned at him and didn't answer because one of the adults at the front of the room began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's bring this All-Valley Karate Championship meeting to order." A bald man announced. Miguel was confused. All-Valley tournament? Then why was he here? He couldn't even compete? It was too soon and his arm wasn't healed yet. "It says here that we have a request to shift back the date of the All-Valley, filed by one John Lawrence?" The man continued. Suddenly, Johnny stood up and walked towards the adults. Miguel's eyes widened when he realised what was going on. Johnny was trying to push back the date of the All-Valley tournament so Miguel would be able to compete!"

"Yeah, hi, I'm John Lawrence." Johnny said, before pointing at Miguel, who had his sling on again. "Sitting over there is my student…"

"Miguel Diaz! The reigning champ, in the flesh! You ready to defend your title?!" An African-American man exclaimed, cheerfully. Miguel recognised him as the announcer and commentator of last year's tournament.

"That's exactly the problem." Johnny stated. "He can't defend his title. Our rival dojo sabotaged us and ambushed him, mangling his arm."

"Oh, my god, that's horrible!" An asian man on the panel exclaimed. "We need to disqualify that team immediately! Which dojo was it?"

Johnny took a deep breath. This next bit was risky. He needed to tread the line carefully. He wanted more than anything for Miguel to be able to compete, but at the same time, he couldn't get Cobra Kai banned as it would ruin their bet with Kreese.

"I can't say." Johnny eventually responded. The panel members, other than Daniel of course, gasped in shock.

"You… you can't? Why not?" They asked.

"Because I can't get them banned from this tournament or it would violate an agreement we have with them." Johnny replied. He could tell he was losing the attention of the panel, and he needed to turn things around quickly. "But I'm not going to waste time talking about how awful the other dojo are. I want to tell you guys how amazing my student is! Miguel Diaz is the strongest person I know. You think that sling around his arm is bad? Well, less than 6 months ago, he was waking up from a 2 week coma, told by several doctors that he was permanently paralysed from the waist down and would never walk again, let alone fight. But in the course of three months, despite everything this enemy dojo put him through, he managed to get his ass out of his wheelchair and back on his feet. He relearned how to walk. He relearned how to stand. He relearned how to fight, all to be able to defend his title in the All-Valley tournament this June. But suddenly, when things were finally starting to look up, everything came crashing back down. Look at my kid's arm! It was mercilessly broken by these vicious students! It was a pathetic act of pure cowardice, and it put him out of commission for the time of the competition! All I'm asking, begging you is to give us one more month. Push back the tournament until July 19th. Give this kid a ray of hope in a life that God has done nothing but shit on!"

Johnny's powerful speech had rendered the panel speechless. There were 5 members, so a majority vote would push back the day of the tournament by a month.

"Well, you've got my vote." Daniel said, nodding at Johnny reassuringly. Johnny showed a hint of a smile towards his former foe.

"I don't know. Seems awfully inconvenient." Another panel member remarked. "I mean, we're going to have to tell the vendors to reschedule. We're going to have to rebook the arena for a different date. Just seems like a lot of hassle for one student."

"Yeah, I agree." Another member said.

"Yeah, me too." Another member agreed. This wasn't looking good. As it stood, the date of the All-Valley would not be changed.

"If I may interject, guys…" Daniel suddenly interrupted, standing up. "The kid sitting over there has been through so much, and you guys just brushing his horrific, traumatic experiences aside like they're nothing is quite frankly very cold and heartless. This is not the All-Valley championship I love. This is not the Karate family my dealership invests extreme amounts of money in every year, so I would be more than happy to not donate a cent more to this competition if I continue to see this sort of heartlessness shown."

Johnny looked at Daniel, and nodded approvingly. Daniel's massive company credit card may be just what they needed to get Miguel back in the competition. The panel members looked at each other nervously before one of them stood up.

"Okay, if all of you could wait outside. The panel will now vote on the matter in hand: pushing back the All-Valley by a month so it would be taking place on July 19th, rather than June 19th."

Everyone nodded and left the conference room, waiting anxiously for Daniel and the others to finish voting. As the group waited outside, Miguel and Johnny paced around, trying to calm their nerves. They were by far the most nervous people in the group, but Hawk and Sam also hoped and prayed that Miguel would be able to compete. Johnny eventually turned to Miguel.

"Hey, Miguel, whatever happens, know that I'm going to do whatever it takes to get you to that tournament, whether it's in June and July." Johnny stated. Miguel nodded and smiled faintly.

"Thanks, Sensei." He murmured in reply, before the group lapsed once again into silence. Miguel sat down, his back against the wall, as he closed his eyes and prayed for a miracle. Around ten minutes later, Daniel walked out of the conference room and over to them, an unreadable expression on his face. Miguel leapt to his feet and faced him, and as did Johnny.

"So…?" Johnny asked, not knowing whether he wanted to hear the answer or not. Daniel looked straight at Miguel when he responded…

"So, Miguel…" Daniel remarked, a massive smile breaking out on his face. "You still interested in defending that All-Valley crown of yours?"

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That night was filled with celebrations. After the All-Valley was officially pushed back to July 19th, the group all went to a restaurant to celebrate together. They celebrated long into the night, before they finally went their separate ways, Johnny and Miguel going to their place, Daniel and Sam going to theirs, and Hawk going to his place. When Johnny parked the car and him and Miguel stepped out, they looked at each other, grinning wildly.

"You're in, man!" Johnny exclaimed.

"I'm in!" Miguel said, it finally starting to sink in.

"YOU'RE IN!" Johnny shouted. The two hugged in delight and Miguel felt a ray of hope flood through him. Maybe, just maybe, he could win that second All-Valley. Maybe he could help banish Cobra Kai from L.A, and save the teenagers who deep down, weren't bad people, but had been corrupted and turned by Kreese. BEST BIRTHDAY EVER. However, it was about to get a lot worse...

As Miguel brushed his teeth and got ready for bed at around 11 that night, his phone suddenly rang. Miguel looked at his phone in confusion. Who would be calling him at this time at night? It was an unknown number so he answered it.

"Hello? Who's this?" Miguel asked into the phone.

"Miguel! Happy Birthday, mi nino!" An eerily familiar slur drawled into Miguel's ear. Miguel's hands immediately started trembling and he started hyperventilating. Greeting him was the voice of someone who he hadn't seen in 4 years, and hoped he would never see again. Someone who had emotionally and physically abused him and his mom nearly to death, to the extent his mom and him fled the country to get away from him. Someone whose job poisoned millions of teenagers in Ecuador with narcotics. Eventually, Miguel got over his shock and slowly picked up his phone again, lifting it to his ear and attempting to stammer a sentence together.

"D-D-d-dad...?"


	14. Chapter 14

" _Wake up, boy!" A rough voice shouted. Miguel's eyes blinked open. He was back in his old house in Ecuador, and he could hear his father's shouts coming from downstairs. Miguel slowly stumbled down the stairs and saw his father in the kitchen, cooking something over the stove. As Miguel walked into the kitchen, he immediately almost retched. The kitchen smelt absolutely horrendous, like it was filled to the brim with rotten meat. Miguel's heart was pounding at the sight of his abusive tormentor._

_"Made you breakfast!" His dad called. "Man, you was tossing and turning all damn night! You still afraid of the dark, aren't you?"_

_His dad chuckled and grinned sadistically at him._

" _Oh, you remember when your mama went to nursing school?" His dad remarked as he stood over the stove. "You made me leave your closet light on, but you still cried your little bitch ass to sleep, didn't you? Yeah, you did."_

_Miguel glared daggers at his father, who had just poured the contents of the pot into a bowl, and then brought it over to his son._

_"Get it while it's hot." His dad said, tossing him a spoon. Miguel didn't move. He just scowled at his father, who smirked wickedly at him. "Well, go on, son. You need to eat. And I fixed it for you. It's good."_

_Miguel looked down at the food and slowly, with trembling hands, he took a bite of the undercooked meat. The blood squirted in his mouth as he bit down, but he nearly broke his tooth when he bit down on something HARD. Miguel groaned in pain and slowly took the hard object out of his mouth and looked at it. His heart dropped to his knees. In his right hand, he was holding a gold charm necklace, and it was one he was extremely familiar with. At the end of the thin chain was a small charm with a short, three letter name: Sam!_

_Miguel threw up at that point, and he stared into the pot and began to see things. There were hairs in the meat dish his father had cooked up - not short, dark ones like his and his fathers, but long, flowy light ones like Sam's. NO! No way! Suddenly, the rotten flesh smell in the kitchen got a whole lot stronger, and it seemed to be coming from the fridge._

_"Don't worry, boy!" His father giggled as he watched his son throwing up. "I got plenty for leftovers in the fridge!"_

_Miguel stumbled to his feet and practically sprinted into the kitchen, and over to the fridge. He swung it open and there, lying before him, was Sam's dead corpse. Miguel nearly collapsed at this point, and his throat started to close up. Gasping for air, Miguel clawed at his old asthma inhaler that was in the top shelf of the kitchen, but it wasn't there._

" _Looking for this?" His father asked triumphantly, holding the inhaler just out of Miguel's reach. Convulsing on the ground, Miguel felt dark spots dance in front of his eyes, before he finally lost consciousness…  
_

"NO!" Miguel shouted as he woke up with a start. His face was drenched in sweat from his nightmare, and his heart was pounding. But he was okay. He was lying in his own bed in California. He was safe. Sam was safe. Everyone was safe.

Tears rolled down Miguel's cheeks. Threedays. Three days he hadn't slept a wink without being shot awake by nightmares of his dad. The conversation he had with his dad over the phone was still etched in his memory and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't forget about it.

**3 days earlier…**

" _D-D-d-dad...?" Miguel stammered. He heard his father chuckle over the phone and even that was enough for Miguel to retch in panic and fear. That laugh was the exact laugh his father used to make whenever he was physically beating Miguel and his mom._

_"Ahh… so you remember me." His father remarked._

" _How do you have this number?" Miguel demanded, but the shakiness in his voice severely undercut his tone. His father chuckled._

" _Oh, come on, Miggy, you know I'm a pretty… resourceful man." Miguel's father replied. Miguel murmured in agreement. He did know that. His father was a gang member in Ecuador after all. "You know, boy, I'm surprised. I would have thought you would have forgotten me at this point, with the speed you and your mom left. Leaving while I was at work without saying goodbye? That's cold, Miggy. That's cold."_

_"THAT'S COLD?!" Miguel exclaimed, his voice finally transitioning from shock to anger. "You abused me and my mom! You hit us! You do that and you have the fucking nerve to say that my mom and I fleeing for our lives is COLD?!"_

_"I don't know why you hate me so much for that. If anything, you should thank me."_

" _Thank you?" Miguel asked, perplexed._

" _Yeah. I taught you how to be a man. I taught you how to deal with people. I taught you how to not take shit from anyone. How to… persuade people into doing what you want."_

_"I'm sorry… what?!" Miguel snapped, disbelievingly. "A man doesn't beat up his innocent kids!"_

" _A man does what he needs to do for him and those around him to succeed." His father corrected. "Look, Miggy, I'm not trying to rehash old issues. I wanted to call because I'm in L.A and I wanted to see you."_

_Miguel's hand almost went limp again when he heard that part. His dad was in L.A?!_

" _Stay the hell away from me." Miguel growled. His father merely laughed again at Miguel's weak tone._

_"Now, now, Miguel, let's not make this a bigger thing than it has to be. I wouldn't want things to get… violent." His dad remarked. "But I'm afraid I must see you, so if that's what it needs to come to, so be it."_

_After Miguel's father's threat, the call lapsed into silence for a few moments as Miguel took in what his father said._

_"I am staying at the Starlight Motel in Pasadena." Miguel's father eventually continued. "I want to see YOU, not your mom, not the police. Just you, alone, one hour, and I leave town in peace and you never have to hear from me again. You have one week to come see me, before I am forced to look for you myself. Think about it. See you soon, Miggy."_

_"No, wait… dad!" Miguel snapped, but his dad had hung up the phone…_

**Back to the present day…**

Miguel slowly rolled out of bed and into the bathroom, taking a shower and washing the sweat from his face. As he stood in the shower, tears rolled down his cheeks, disguised by the running water. All he wanted to do was curl up in a ball at the corner of the shower and wait for this nightmare to be over. He thought him and his mom had gotten rid of that man from their lives when they had fled Ecuador. How had he found them? What was he going to do? He had to go meet with his dad. It was the only option. He knew the lengths his father could go to if he didn't. He could come after his mom. He could come after Sensei Lawrence. He could come after Sam. No! That was too horrible to think about! He would go see his father on the last possible day.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

That morning, Miguel and the others were at training, and Miguel was absolutely exhausted before they had even started. He hadn't slept in three days, and having to train harder than ever due to his sudden addition to the All-Valley wasn't helping one bit.

The group were standing in the Miyagi-Do dojo and were preparing for some light sparring.

"Okay, Demitri, Miguel, step onto the mat." Daniel called. Miguel and Demitri stood up and walked into the center of the dojo, facing each other and bowing. They were supposed to fight with minimal contact so Miguel's shoulder wouldn't get in the way. Besides, Miguel mainly used his legs anyway.

When Johnny and Daniel began the match, Miguel and Demitri circled each other slowly. Although Demitri was infinitely better than he was before, he wasn't quite Miguel's level. Sure enough, Miguel managed to take him down with a scissor kick tackle. As he stood over Demitri, ready to help him to his feet, his dad's words rang through his head.

" _A man does what he needs to do for him and those around him to succeed."_

Before Miguel knew it, he blinked and suddenly, right below him was not Demitri, but his dad. Miguel's eyes widened and suddenly, all control went out the window. He forgot all about Demitri. He just saw the face of his torturer. Miguel was soon sitting on top of Demitri, beating up every inch of his friend's body, ignoring the scared shouts of everyone around him. A couple of moments later, Miguel felt himself roughly pulled off Demitri and he found himself face-to-face with an alarmed, angry looking Johnny.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Johnny shouted. Miguel took a couple of deep breaths and suddenly, his rage dissipated. He blinked again and his father was gone and in his place was Demitri, who was stumbling to his feet with the help of Daniel. Miguel put his head in his hands. His temples were pounding, another consequence of his lack of sleep.

"Fuck this." Miguel spat, before walking out of the dojo, leaving everyone looking at each other, perplexed. What the fuck had just happened?

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Later that day, Miguel was sitting on the roof of his compound, having skived the rest of training, when he suddenly heard footsteps walking behind him. Miguel turned around to see Johnny, who looked considerably less angry than he was before.

"Hey. Can I sit?" Johnny asked. Miguel nodded and Johnny sat next to him at the edge of the roof, their feet pressed against the top of the side wall.

There was a brief silence for a moment, during which Miguel could tell Johnny was dying to ask him about the day's events, and finally Johnny broke the silence.

"So what exactly happened there?" Johnny asked. Miguel sighed and shrugged.

"Just doing what you taught me. Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy." Miguel replied, spitting the last phrase of the mantra rather viciously. Johnny looked at him and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Yeah, in Cobra Kai. But that was a mistake." Johnny stated. Miguel closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"What if it wasn't a mistake?" Miguel murmured. Johnny was even more confused now than ever.

"Um… what?" Johnny asked.

"What if it wasn't a mistake?" Miguel repeated, louder and more confidently. "What if that's what we've been missing? Why Cobra Kai is going to top us. They have the killer edge that we don't. We need to incorporate more of Cobra Kai's strategy if we want to stand any chance of winning this tournament."

"Miguel… you don't mean that." Johnny stammered, his eyes wide in alarm. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from his student. Miguel shook his head.

"I do." He snapped. "Maybe… maybe we're fighting on the wrong side, Sensei."

"What do you mean?" Johnny asked.

"What if we go back to Kreese tomorrow, and ask to rejoin Cobra Kai?" Miguel said. Johnny's jaw dropped to the ground. After everything Miguel had been through at the hands of Cobra Kai students, there was no way in hell he was being serious!

"Oh come on! You're joking, right?" Johnny laughed, nervously. Miguel didn't. He looked deadly serious.

"Not at all." Miguel replied. "I showed mercy, and it's coming back to fucking bite me now. Maybe it's time to try another tactic."

With that, Miguel got up and walked away from the roof and back into his apartment, leaving a terrified Johnny to dwell on what he had just heard. Miguel was clearly more traumatised by Robby than he ever let on, Johnny thought. Miguel had shown mercy to Robby in the school fight, and it was all coming back to bite him. However, little did Johnny know, Robby was the least of Miguel's worries. Miguel's fears and questioning of Johnny's new show-mercy tactics came because of an experience that happened 4 years ago, at the hands of someone who was staying in a motel in Pasadena…


	15. Chapter 15

"No way! Miguel really said that?!" Daniel exclaimed later that night. Right after Miguel's conversation with Johnny, Johnny had briefly spoken to Carmen, before heading over to the Larusso house to talk to him and Sam.

"He wants to join Cobra Kai?" Sam murmured, horrified. Johnny nodded.

"Yeah, and he meant it." Johnny replied. "He's… he's terrified.."

"I'm not surprised. This Robby thing is hitting him harder than he's letting on, huh?" Daniel remarked. "He could've broken Robby's arm in the school fight and put Robby out of commission. Instead, he showed mercy, broke his back and is now being tormented and put through hell by him."

"No, I don't think it's Robby." Sam murmured, quietly. Daniel and Johnny looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked.

"Him and I talk a lot about the emotional aftermath of the school fight, and all of the fighting that has been going on since. He would've told me if something was up with him and Robby. This is something recent." Sam stated. Johnny shrugged.

"I don't know what it's about. All I know is that he's not been sleeping lately." Johnny said.

"What?" Sam asked, nervously. Johnny sighed.

"He's been having nightmares. I've been in his house every night for the past couple of days and I heard him wake up like three times every night, screaming in pain and begging someone to stop. His mom and I were going to confront him about it tonight, but after what he told me. I don't want him to feel betrayed and then turn to Kreese like Robby did."

"Yeah, don't confront him. He needs to feel like he has people on his side." Sam said. "The two of us are going out tomorrow night. I'll talk to him about it sometime then, when he's in a good mood."

Daniel and Johnny nodded, and Johnny left shortly after. Just before Sam left the room, she heard her dad call her name.

"Hey, Sam!" Daniel said. Sam turned around and faced him.

"Yeah?" She asked. Daniel sighed.

"Look, I know how much you like Miguel, and I know he's a great kid. But he's clearly going through something and that could lead to him being dangerous, so just…"

"Just what, dad?" Sam snapped, anger creeping into her voice. "Dump him? Leave him out in the cold when he needs me most. He was the one who brought me in from the cold when I had my PTSD from Tory. Not you. Not mom. HIM. HE was the one who convinced me to speak to the therapist. He saved me. The least I can do is return the favor."

Daniel nodded. He knew there was no reasoning with his daughter.

"Look, just… be careful, okay sweetie?" Daniel pleaded. Sam eventually sighed and nodded.

"Yes, dad."

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The next afternoon, Miguel picked Sam up for their date, and he drove them to the surprise location of their date: golf n stuff. Sam beamed widely as he parked and they stepped out of the car.

"Awwww Golf n Stuff! The place we went to on our first date! I can't believe it's been more than a year!" Sam exclaimed. Miguel smiled faintly and nodded. He was extremely distracted, and Sam could tell. It was like Miguel was there, but not really there.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, gently but concerned. Miguel looked at her and shrugged nonchalantly, but Sam could see the pain beneath the exhaustion in his eyes.

"Yeah, fine. I'm going to go pay for some clubs and balls. I'll be right back!" Miguel quickly replied, before scurrying away. Sam sighed. Something was seriously wrong.

Across the park, Tory was sweeping the floor of the Golf n Stuff cafeteria to earn enough money for her mom, when she saw Miguel and Sam pull up to the theme park. Her eyes widened in anger as she saw them holding hands and walking towards the mini golf area. She immediately reached for her phone and dialled a number. He answered almost immediately.

"Hello?" Robby said. Tory smirked evilly as she spoke into the phone…

"Get the Cobras. They're here…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Miguel and Sam spent the next hour and a half on the mini golf course. They made a little bit of small talk, but Sam didn't bring up the elephant into the room. It was pretty awkward and there were long silences as they searched desperately for conversation topics while skirting around the massive issue. There were probably more awkward silences during that hour and a half than during all of their first date. Eventually, by the time they made it to the 12th hole on the golf course, Sam couldn't take it anymore. She sighed and put down her golf club, before turning to Miguel.

"Okay, Miguel, what the hell's going on with you?" Sam snapped, harsher than she intended. She made a mental note to calm herself down more. The last thing she wanted was for Miguel to lose trust in her and push her away.

"What? Is this about the thing that happened with Demitri? I went by, I apologised, end of story." Miguel stated, bluntly. Sam shook her head, furiously.

"No, not end of story! What happened, Miguel? You're normally the most composed person I know. I'm scared, with everything that happened with Robby, you finally…"

"I what?" Miguel spat, his voice rising. "I snapped? I lost control? I made a fucking mistake?! I'm sorry! Look, I'm sorry! But that's all it was! End! Of! Fucking! Story!"

Sam's eyes widened. She had never heard Miguel talk like this before, and last year, she probably would've dumped him on the spot. But now, after all that they'd been through together, Sam knew more than ever that Miguel needed her help.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, okay?" Miguel snapped. He started to walk away, but Sam called after him.

"I know you've been having nightmares!" Sam said. Miguel stopped walking, cold, and he slowly turned back around to face her.

"What?" Miguel said, his loud tone suddenly gone and replaced by a quiet one. Sam sighed and took his hands in her own, but Miguel quickly retracted them.

"Sensei Lawrence mentioned that you've been having nightmares, waking up at night in pain." Sam murmured. Miguel's eyes widened as he looked over Sam's shoulder at the other side of the park, but Sam interpreted it as him being embarrassed about what Sensei Lawrence had told her. "Miguel, you helped me so much last year and…"

"Sam, shut up!" Miguel suddenly snapped, his voice suddenly deadly calm. Sam's eyes widened and a scowl etched across her face.

"EXCUSE ME?! I'M YOUR GIRLFRIEND! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO…"

"No, Sam, shut up and turn around." Miguel stated. Sam turned around and she almost passed out… Walking towards them were Tory and Robby!

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Oh, my God!" Sam murmured as she watched them snarl and prowl towards her and Miguel like leopards hunting gazelles. The two of them spun around, ready to sprint away, when they saw Kyler and Shawn making their way towards them. On their left were two more Cobras. On their right were 3 more. They were completely surrounded.

"What do we do?" Sam stammered. Miguel leaned down and picked up two golf balls.

"This." Miguel growled, before throwing the two balls, hitting them in the faces of the two Cobras on their left. The two stumbled back, distracted, and Miguel and Sam took advantage of it. Miguel grabbed her hand and pulled her in that direction, and the two of them sprinted together in the direction of the abandoned laser tag arena. It was a real maze, with plenty of places to hide. As they started running, thoughts started accelerating inside Sam's head. She knew things were going to escalate to a fight, but they didn't have the power to stop the Cobras. Miguel is in an awful mindset, so that just left her to take on everyone. She could barely beat Tory, let alone everyone else! How was she supposed to protect herself and Miguel too?! Sam willed her thoughts to slow so she could breathe but they wouldn't. Her breaths came in gasps and she felt like she would black out. It was an anxiety attack at the worst possible time. Her heart was hammering inside her chest like it belonged to a bass drum in an orchestra.

Her and Miguel finally made it to the abandoned laser tag arena, and they took various arbitrary turns in the maze, trying to get far away from the incoming Cobras. Speaking of whom, led by Tory and Robby, the Cobras just made it to the entrance of the laser tag arena. Tory grinned.

"Round 2. Let's get it." Tory snarled.

"Split up and find them…" Robby ordered, and the Cobras all split up and began to scour the maze for them.

Meanwhile, for Sam, the room started spinning and she eventually collapsed onto the floor, trying to make everything slow to something her brain and body could cope with. She felt so sick. Miguel's eyes widened as Sam slowed to a halt on the floor, and he immediately realised from her hyperventilating that she was having a panic attack. Miguel had witnessed 2 of her panic attacks before, so he knew exactly what to do. Ignoring the Cobras who were definitely nearby, Miguel sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Sweetie. Sweetie. Look at me, okay?" Miguel murmured gently into her ear, their previous argument suddenly forgotten. "Everything's okay. You're okay. You're safe." Miguel whispered reassuringly. He then did what his mom - the nurse in his family - had taught him to do in situations with someone having an anxiety attack. He helped slow her breathing by breathing slowly with her and whispering assurances into her ear. Eventually, Sam's breathing managed to get back to normal and the worst of her panic attack was over, but she was still feeling pretty weak because of it, definitely not strong enough to fight 9 Cobras. Miguel could hear one of the Cobras walking closer and closer to them with every passing second.

"What are we going to do?" Sam murmured, tears threatening to well up in her eyes. Miguel pointed upwards and Sam saw an air vent directly above them. It was too high for either of them to jump, but low enough for Sam to reach if Miguel gave her a boost up.

"You climb up there. Use the vents to discreetly crawl out of the laser tag arena. I'll meet you at the car as soon as I can." Miguel murmured. Sam's eyes widened.

"I can't do that! I can't just leave you here alone!" Sam exclaimed. Miguel shook his head.

"Come on, Sam. You know this is the best and only option we've got. Besides, I won't be alone. I've got Lucille here to help me."

"Lucille?" Sam asked, perplexed. Miguel leaned down and picked up his mini golf club that he had taken with him when they ran away from the golf course and into the laser tag arena. Carved into the handle was the phrase 'Lucille was here'. Miguel held the golf club aloft like a baseball bat, and swung it at the air, acting like how he would hit the Cobras.

"See! With Lucille, the Cobras don't stand a chance!" Miguel said, more encouragingly than he felt. He was only too aware about Sam's recent panic attack and the last thing he wanted was for her to be put in more danger than she had to be. Sam still looked unsure.

"Are you sure, babe?" She asked. Miguel nodded.

"Please." Miguel begged. Sam reluctantly nodded. She kissed her boyfriend quickly and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck like a vice.

"I love you so much." Sam whispered, her tears starting to fall onto her boyfriend's shirt. Miguel kissed her forehead.

"I love you too. And I'll be right back, okay?" He replied. Sam nodded. Miguel then gave her a boost up and she climbed into the air vent and crawled out of sight. When she was gone, Miguel let out a small sigh of relief. With Sam out of harm's way, he could begin to think about picking off the Cobras, one by one…


	16. Chapter 16

**_CHAPTER 16_ **

Golf club in hand, Miguel silently tiptoed through the laser tag arena, trying to sneak up on Cobras, but wary to make sure he wasn’t snuck up on himself.    
  
“Larusso! Miguel! You can’t hide forever!” Miguel heard Tory’s voice ring out through the arena. Thankfully, she sounded pretty far away, but that didn’t mean that Robby and the others weren’t close by themselves. However, Miguel’s only lead that was seeing shadows and listening to people’s voices to gauge distance was quickly taken away when a tenth Cobra had snuck into the laser tag arena’s lights and sound room and cut off all of the lights in the arena, leaving it pitch black. In addition, Miguel’s advantage of hearing where the Cobras were was completely gone when a deafeningly loud heavy metal song started blaring on the loudspeakers.

**To hear the following song, click:**

[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFoC_cZGp28 ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFoC_cZGp28)

**Or search, ‘Vanity Big Terrible’**

_ Now hear my throat, oh it's drying out _

_ It's a sign that I'm breaking down _

  
Finally, Miguel found his first Cobra. It was Rickenberger, and he was facing away from Miguel. One hard crack across his back with the golf club was enough to send the boy tumbling to the floor, unconscious. 1 down, 8 to go…

_ I see your hands saying hold, hold on please _

_ But your eyes they can't lie to me _

_ Oh my body aches at the sight of dawn _

_ When you lie, in another's arms _

Miguel’s next Cobra he approached was an unfamiliar one, but the unfortunate thing was that they spotted each other at the same time, so Miguel’s advantage of having the element of surprise was gone. However, Miguel used his fighting prowess to hit the boy a couple of times to the windpipe to prevent him from shouting to the other Cobras, and then choked him out with the golf club. 2 down, 7 to go…

_ I really hate this slow burn while you sleep all around _

_ Oh let it out let it out _

_ I really hate this slow burn while you sleep all around _

_ Oh let it out let it out _

As the blaring song on the speaker system swelled to its climax, Miguel turned a corner to see Tory glaring at him. Miguel was hesitant at this point. Him and Tory had dated. He had seen a vulnerable side of her. It would be an extremely low move for him to turn around and physically abuse her, despite what she had done to him and how much she still terrorised Sam. However, Miguel was quickly forced to defend himself as Tory lunged at him…

_ Did you catch his stare or just wait to see _

_ If he'd try, and steal you from me _

_ I hope I'm not mistaken, darling please I'm confused _

_ But your pretty face has got me all mixed up and _

_ I'm still loving you _

Luckily, Miguel knew Tory well, so he knew exactly what he needed to do to defend himself. Tory was an extremely aggressive fighter, too much so that it could be used to his advantage. As she constantly swung at him with her arms, Miguel could tell her legs weren’t stable on the ground. He clenched his jaw and swept Tory’s leg, sending her stumbling to the ground and as her head hit the ground, she was knocked out cold. 3 down, 6 to go…

_ Oh I can't fake this, it's so hard not to choke _

The quietest part of the song came at the perfect time for Miguel. It enabled him to hear two Cobras attempting to sneak up on him behind him, and he quickly spun around, kicking one so hard that it knocked him out right there, and then shoving the unconscious Cobra into his friend, causing them both to fall onto the floor and the unconscious body pinning the conscious guy to the ground, giving Miguel the easy opportunity to knock him out with a blow to the head. 5 down, 4 to go…

_ I really hate this slow burn while you sleep all around _

_ Oh let it out let it out _

_ Now I dread the thought of you _

_ And I just want to say, you dropped your vanity _

Miguel took out one more unfamiliar Cobra with his golf club, smacking it so hard across his head that the boy was unconscious before he even hit the ground. 6 down, 3 to go, and Miguel knew exactly who the three were…

Finally, after a minute or so of searching, Miguel found Shawn and Kyler together. Despite their massive differences, Shawn and Kyler had actually grown close friends in the past little while. They were very much the second-highest tier students in Cobra Kai after Robby and Tory, so Kreese did show them a bit of preferential treatment. Unfortunately, the pair saw Miguel too and Miguel winced in annoyance. It was a 1 vs 2, not great odds for him. As Miguel stared up at the massive, 6’8 giant named Shawn who stood before him, Miguel knew that he would have to resort to some morally shady methods if he wanted to win the fight.   
  
Knocking Kyler out was easy. All it took was a kick to the stomach, and an uppercut to the head to send him packing. Shawn, however, was more durable. The two circled each other, Miguel waiting for Shawn to lunge so he could make his move. Sure enough, it didn’t take long as Shawn had Kreese’s ‘Strike First’ mantra drilled deep into him. Miguel dodged Shawn’s punch, and internally praying to God for forgiveness, Miguel kicked Shawn right in the balls as hard as he could. Even someone as large as Shawn would go down at a hit like that. It was right in the sweet spot, and it sent Shawn collapsing to the ground. One more swing to his head with the golf club was enough to completely knock the boy out, and Miguel let out a sigh of relief. One more: Robby… 

_ Oh so it's over _

_ Oh so it's over _

_ But I've been turned _

_ Turned inside out _

The music quietened down as Miguel and Robby both looked for each other in the maze, trying to get the jump on the other.

  
“Show yourself, Diaz!” Robby shouted into the darkness. Miguel ignored him and started to head in the direction of his voice. However, as Miguel was tiptoeing in that direction, in the pitch darkness, he felt a searing pain in his head and his dad’s face flashed before him in his mind.

_ “YOU STILL AFRAID OF THE DARK BOY?!” _

“No! No! No! Not now! Get out of my head!” Miguel internally yelled at his father, who was grinning and laughing sadistically at him.

_ “YOU STILL AFRAID OF ME?!!!” _ _   
_ _   
_ “Get out! Get out!” Miguel cried internally as he stopped momentarily and put his head in his hands. He forced himself to continue moving, wanted desperately for this fight to be over so him and Sam could get the hell away from this place.

  
Little did Miguel know that Sam, who was about halfway to her car, stopped and turned around. She couldn’t let Miguel fight all of those Cobras alone! She knew that he would never make her do that, so she owed him the same! She had already called her dad, who was on his way, but she couldn’t wait that long. Sam turned on her heel and sprinted back towards the laser tag arena.

_ Oh I tried _

_ Oh I tried _

_ Yeah I tried _

_ Yeah I tried _

_ No, I didn't want it to be this way _

_ I didn't want it to be this way _

_ I didn't want it to be this way _

Finally, Miguel and Robby came face to face. Ironically, they finally saw each other at the entrance of the laser tag arena. Their 5 minutes of looking for each other had been useless as the two of them stepped out of the arena to face each other right outside. 

“Hey, Diaz.” Robby snarled at him, the hesitancy he had been recently feeling towards Kreese’s Cobra Kai gone as he glared at Miguel. That boy had taken everything from him, and he needed to pay.   
  
“Robby. We don’t have to do this. Save it for the tournament.” Miguel stated. Robby scowled at him.

“You mean the tournament you cheated your way into pushing back?” Robby asked. It was Miguel’s turn to look angry now.

  
“Because you broke my fucking shoulder?!” Miguel spat. The two of them had nothing but loathing their eyes for each other, and eventually, they both pounced…   
  
Robby got the first hit in, a side kick winding Miguel and sending him backwards but not doing any harm. Miguel then grasped his golf club tightly, preparing to swing, when he heard Robby chuckle.

  
“Going to cheat your way into another win? Yeah, makes sense.” Robby remarked, pointing at the club. Miguel sighed and tossed the club aside, raising his hands, ready to strike. Miguel then finally kicked into gear and attacked Robby using every move Johnny and Daniel had ever taught him. It was like everything had finally clicked together. He slithered, he dodged, he used balance, speed, strength, agility. He overpowered Robby with surprise ease and stood over his semi-conscious body, flames of fury in his eyes. Lying a couple of feet away was Miguel’s golf club, and more Miguel knew it, he felt himself being pulled into a flashback. Miguel fought desperately to stay in the present but no matter how hard he tried, memories of the past sucked him in like a black hole…

**5 years ago…**

_ Miguel and his father walked into their house one Saturday afternoon when his mom wasn’t home, his dad fuming. They had just come back from Miguel’s baseball game and Miguel’s team had lost. _

_   
_ _ “That little punk struck you out all day, and you shake hands with him like he’s your pal?!” His dad spat at Miguel as they walked into the house.  _

_ “It was the end of the game, Dad.” Miguel replied. His father chuckled. _

_   
_ _ “Soft, just like her.” His dad remarked, referring to Carmen, who wasn’t home and was at nursing school. “Your team’s 0-4. I don’t even… Damn, that’s embarrassing.” _ _   
  
_

_ “I got dis-distracted.” Miguel stammered, stumbling back from his father, who he could tell was about to hit him. _

_   
_ _ “Distracted? What the hell were you distracted by?” His dad growled. Miguel took a deep, shaky breath. _

_ “You.” Miguel murmured. “I saw you by the fence. Watching.” _

_   
_ _ “You know what, son?” His dad snarled, picking up Miguel’s baseball bat. “Maybe I didn’t give you a proper lesson. You see the key to getting a hit… is all about making contact.” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Miguel’s dad swung the bat at Miguel, sending the 11 year old groaning in pain and collapsing on the ground. But his dad wasn’t done yet.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “It’s all about form.” His dad continued, hitting him again. “Hands bottom up, palm down!” He shouted as he hit his child with the bat again. Miguel was barely conscious at this point. “You understand me?!” He shouted as he hit two more blows. _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “DAD! DAD! STOP! PLEASE!” Miguel begged, as he got a blow to the side of the face and nearly passed out. His dad walked over to him. _

_   
_ _ “Let me see.” His dad grunted, forcefully moving Miguel’s hands from his face. “Hold still.” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ There was a massive gash on the side of Miguel’s face, but his dad shrugged and chuckled. _

_   
_ _ “You see?” His dad growled at his crying son. “Soft. Just like I said…” _ _   
_ _   
_ **Back to the present day…**

Miguel finally managed to pull himself out of his flashback, but his troubles were far from over. As Miguel stared down at Robby, who was still conscious, he realised something… his dad was right. He was soft. Too soft. And it had and would continue to cost him dearly for the rest of his life. He had to change his attitude! A possessed expression flared through Miguel’s eyes as he grabbed the golf club, and began to pummel Robby with it…

  
Sam had finally made it to the laser tag arena, and her jaw dropped when she saw what was going on at the entrance. There were no other Cobras around, and Miguel was beating the crap out of an already down Robby with the golf club. She sprinted over to them and immediately stood in between Miguel and his vanquished foe, knowing that Miguel wouldn’t swing if she was in the way.   
  
“MIGUEL, STOP!” She cried. For a brief moment, Sam saw the possessed look in his eyes again. It was the same look he had when he was fighting Demitri. But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. As Miguel stepped back and took in the situation, his eyes widened and his arm went limp, dropping the club to the ground. What the hell had he done?! He had been so wrapped up in his anger that he didn’t realise what he was doing. Miguel took a couple of deep breaths as Sam watched him, terrified and confused and he eventually calmed down.

“Come on, Sam. Let’s go…”


	17. Chapter 17

After the fight, Sam and Miguel quickly left before security could get involved and hold them and they quickly drove off in Sam's car. Sam was dying to ask Miguel about what the hell had just happened, but she knew it wasn't the time. Miguel looked extremely worn. Getting into a fight that intense, on top of the fact that he hadn't slept in 3 days, had brought him to the brink of exhaustion. In fact, as Miguel sat in the passenger seat of Sam's car, before he could stop himself, he was dragged into yet another nightmare, this one not a flashback and completely a figment of his imagination…

" _WAKE UP, BOY!" Miguel heard his father yell, and Miguel's eyes snapped open. This time, he was back in his old home in Ecuador, but his dad was sitting in the living room opposite him, chugging . Miguel and his dad stared daggers at each other for several moments, before Miguel looked down and saw that there was a gun next to him. His heart started beating faster and faster as Miguel picked up the gun and pointed it at his father._

_The man, despite the fact that there was a gun pointed at him, merely chuckled and grinned._

_"That a boy." His father slurred. "You should have done this a long time ago."_

_Miguel cocked the gun and aimed it, something he hated that his dad taught him how to do. His hand trembled as his finger curled around the trigger._

_"Do it." His dad grinned. "Do the thing you really want to do. Or don't you have the guts? Do it!"_

_Suddenly, Miguel pulled the gun away from his father and pointed the barrel directly under his own chin, before firing the fatal shot…_

Miguel jolted awake from the nightmare, accidentally jerking forward in the car. Sam watched him in alarm as Miguel panted for breath and slowly calmed himself from his nightmare. Once his breathing was back to normal, Miguel relaxed slightly and sat back, putting his head in his hands. His face was covered but Sam could see tears running down his face, and her heart broke for him.

"Bad dream? You were tossing around in your sleep." Sam murmured. Miguel sighed.

"I was? Sorry." He replied, gruffly.

"You wanna talk about it?" She asked, already knowing what he was about to answer.

"Not particularly." Miguel grumbled in reply. Suddenly, Sam screeched her car to a halt, throwing Miguel forward. He groaned in pain. "What the hell, Sam?" He muttered. He then looked out the window and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had absolutely no idea where they were. Sam hadn't been driving home from Golf n' Stuff. Instead, she had driven into the hilly, less-populated parts of the city.

"Look, Miguel…" Sam started, closing her eyes and then opening them and turning to face him. "I love you. So much. You taught me what it's like to fully trust someone. How to love someone. I've opened up to you more than I've ever opened up to anyone in my life. But I can't do this anymore."

"You're dumping me?" Miguel murmured, not exactly surprised. He had been kind of a shitty boyfriend to her since his dad had come to town. Sam, who had tears rolling down her cheeks, nodded.

"Unless you tell me what's going on with you. Why you're having nightmares. Why you've been losing control. Wanting to join Cobra Kai. All of this anger… unless you talk to someone about it, it's going to eat you alive. Please talk to me."

"You don't get it." Miguel snapped and got out of the car, walking towards the edge of the massive hill they were standing on. Sam wasn't done though. She followed him out of the car.

"You're right! I don't! Because you aren't telling me what the hell's going on!"

"No, you don't get it! I want to tell you, but I fucking can't!" Miguel spat, a bit louder now. He had decided from the moment his dad had called him that he wouldn't tell Sam about it. If she knew, it would potentially put her at risk, and that was something Miguel would never do.

"Bullshit! You can tell me! You just don't want to!" Sam shouted back.

"I CAN'T! I CAN'T! I CAN'T!" Miguel finally exploded, before putting his head in his hands and walking to the edge of the hill. Sam didn't leave though. She walked over and sat next to him, wrapping an arm around him comfortingly. She watched tears stream down Miguel's face to an extent she had never seen him do before. Miguel always had this annoying trait that he felt like he had to be strong for everyone, and to see him break down like this was terrifying for Sam.

"Miguel, please, what's going on?" Sam eventually asked softly when Miguel's tears subsided. Miguel finally gave up and decided to tell Sam. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I've told you about my dad, right?" Miguel murmured. Sam was taken aback. Miguel NEVER talked about his dad. The only time his dad was ever mentioned was once by Carmen when Sam was over for dinner one night and Miguel had gone to the bathroom and Sam hadn't learned that much about him.

"Not really. All I know is that he was an abusive son of a bitch." Sam remarked. Miguel chuckled. He always found it kinda funny when his normally extremely kind, passive girlfriend swore so vehemently.

"Yeah, well he's staying at the Starlight Motel in Pasadena, and he wants to meet me." Miguel murmured. Sam's eyes widened when she realised… she was right. This wasn't about Robby. This was about someone much, much worse. Everything made sense. His extreme anger. His loss of control in fights. His look that made him look like he was possessed.

"So, what are you…"

"I'm going to go see him tomorrow." Miguel murmured. Sam's eyes widened.

"Miguel, you can't be serious!" She exclaimed. "That man was an abusive asshole to you!"

Miguel sighed and nodded.

"I know. But he's an abusive asshole who might have one or two connections with the most fearsome drug-dealing gang in Ecuador." Miguel stated, his voice not angry but defeated. Sam's eyes widened even more.

"He has connections or he's actually in the…" Sam's voice trailed off as Miguel's facial expression told her the answer to the question. "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry, Miguel!"

"It's fine. It's not your fault." Miguel sighed. It was no one's fault. Having an abusive, gang member dad was just a shit hand he had been dealt when he was born.

"I don't think you should go, Miguel." Sam stated. Miguel shrugged.

"I don't either. Not like I've got a choice. He kinda… threatened to come after me if I don't come see him." Miguel said. Sam's eyes filled with sympathetic tears for her boyfriend.

"Oh, my god! Go to the police, Miguel!" Sam exclaimed. Miguel laughed mirthlessly.

"And they arrest him on what charges?!" Miguel snapped. "There's no proof he did anything. He can't be arrested."

Sam realised how hopeless the situation was for Miguel, so she couldn't do much more than just comfort him.

"So have you told your mom?" Sam asked, gently. Miguel's head suddenly shot up as he faced her.

"No, and you can't either!" Miguel demanded. Sam sighed.

"Miguel, she deserves to know!" Sam stated. Miguel shook his head furiously.

"NO! Telling her would just put her in danger!" Miguel stated. "You need to promise me that this stays between us!"

"Miguel, I…" Sam started, but Miguel interrupted her.

"Promise me!" Miguel demanded, louder. Sam reluctantly sighed and nodded.

"I promise." She replied. Miguel nodded and relaxed a bit, now even more worn out than he was before, but it felt a bit better to get it off his chest.

"Thanks, Sam." Miguel murmured. "Could you please take me home? I kinda need some sleep."

Sam nodded and the two of them drove home, barely saying another word to each other. Miguel could tell that Sam was still processing everything Miguel had just laid on her, but thankfully, she didn't act like everyone else he told - they all treated him like he was some baby, defenseless victim.

After dropping Miguel at his house, Sam drove home. The second she walked in, her dad ran over to her and embraced her tightly. When he had gotten to Golf n Stuff, everyone was already gone, including Sam and Miguel. Then, when Miguel was telling her about everything that was going on with his dad, Sam hadn't answered Daniel's calls.

"Oh, thank God! You're okay, sweetie!" Daniel exclaimed in relief, embracing his daughter extremely tightly. As she felt her dad hug her, Sam thought about Miguel and everything he was going through with his own father. She felt guilty, in a way. Guilty that her father had been with her her whole life, when Miguel was being physically and emotionally tortured by his own. Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face thick and fast and she was sobbing uncontrollably. Daniel's eyes widened in alarm as he looked at his daughter. "Sam, honey, is everything okay?"

Sam sniffed back her sobs enough for Daniel to be able to understand her.

"Dad…" She stammered, aware that she was stabbing the person who had finally confided in her in the back. "I need to talk to you…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The next afternoon, Miguel drove home from school, ready to confront and meet his dad that evening. However, when he walked into his house, he saw a strange sight: Daniel, Amanda, Sam, Johnny and Carmen were all sitting in his living room, looking at him with extreme sympathy in their eyes. Miguel immediately knew what had happened, and he sighed in annoyance.

"Seriously, Sam?!" Miguel groaned. "How long did it take you to spill my biggest secret in the world?!"

"Miguel, it's not her fault." Carmen started, her facial expression pained that Miguel hadn't told her that his father was in the city.

"Mom, look, I'm really not in the mood to hear it." Miguel mumbled, tiredly. "I'm going to see him tonight. It's the only way to get rid of him."

"Miguel, that's not true." Johnny said, abnormally gently. "You don't have to see him. You shouldn't have to see him."

"Don't you think I know that?" Miguel snapped. "After everything that shithead did to me, you think I want to see him?! But it's the ONLY way!"

"Miguel, look, you could talk to the police. Get a restraining order. They can protect you and your family." Daniel stated. Miguel chuckled.

"Yeah? And how did that work out for your family and Kreese?" Miguel remarked, harshly. Daniel was rendered speechless and Miguel sighed, continuing in a calmer tone.

"Look, Johnny, Sam, Mr. and Mrs. Larusso, as much as I appreciate you guys being here, would it be okay if you guys left? The last thing I want is to put any of you at risk unnecessarily, and this an issue that I'd prefer just my immediate family be here for."

"What? No! We're staying! We want to help you!" Amanda exclaimed. Miguel sighed.

"I know, and I really appreciate that, Mrs. Larusso. But there's nothing you guys can possibly help me with. I've been thinking about every possible option. There aren't any good ones. So please, go home."

Miguel seemed extremely adamant, so reluctantly, the Larussos left the apartment. After they were gone, Miguel turned to Johnny.

"That means you too, you know? Get out." Miguel snapped at his sensei. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Like hell! If you seriously think I'm leaving, you're fucking high, Miguel!" Johnny exclaimed. Miguel reluctantly sighed and nodded.

"Fine. Whatever. What do we even have to talk about? I'm going, and that's that."

"No, you're not!" Carmen exclaimed, finally speaking. "Miguel, you can't see this man! He tried to kill you!"

"Yeah, I think I seem to remember." Miguel responded, briefly thinking back to that night and shuddering. "But give me another option. Please, give me another option. I'm begging you."

Carmen and Johnny were rendered speechless for a moment as they glanced at each other nervously. Little did Miguel know that they did indeed have a plan, a plan they had made with the Larusso's and the police's help that morning. Johnny sighed.

"Look, let me get you a drink from the kitchen, and then we can spitball ideas." He said, walking into the kitchen. He took out a beer from the fridge and poured it into a glass for Miguel. Then, with shaking hands, Johnny pulled out the small bag of crushed up Ambien (sleeping drugs) and poured it into Miguel's drink, stirring it thoroughly so it was invisible. Johnny then walked back into the living room, handing the glass to Miguel and nodding surreptitiously at Carmen. Miguel accepted the drink gratefully and chugged it. It tasted kind of funny but Miguel didn't think anything of it. He put it down and then turned to his mom and sensei.

"So, I'm interested. What do you think we do?" Miguel asked. Carmen and Johnny spent the next half hour killing time by making up random ideas, until they saw Miguel start to fade with exhaustion.

"So, Miguel, Johnny and I need to tell you something." Carmen said. Miguel yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry, I'm suddenly feeling kind of tired. What's up?" He asked. Carmen took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Miggy, but we were never going to let you go see your father. Johnny is going to go see him instead."

Miguel's eyes widened.

"What? That wasn't the deal I made with him?!" Miguel exclaimed. "And how the hell do you even know where he is?"

Carmen and Johnny looked at each other and Miguel groaned as he realised.

"Damn it, Sam!" He murmured. "Look, you can't stop me from meeting him either way!"

"We actually kinda can, kid." Johnny remarked. "That beer you just drank... enough Ambien in there to knock out a horse. It's bound to keep you out until at least tomorrow morning."

Miguel's eyes widened when he realised that his family never had any intention of letting him meet with his dad at all.

"Sensei, I'm gonna kill y…" Miguel didn't even finish his threat before he collapsed onto the ground, sleeping silently. Johnny carried Miguel into his room and threw him onto the bed. He glanced at his student sleeping peacefully and he knew exactly why he was about to do what he was about to do. Right on time, Carmen heard a knock on the door and she opened it to reveal Sam.

"Is he out yet?" Sam asked. Carmen nodded.

"Like a light." Carmen replied. Sam walked into the house with Carmen, and they walked into Miguel's room and saw him sleeping peacefully. "So you know what's happening right? Johnny's going to the motel to meet with Miggy's father, wearing a wire to record everything the man says. I'm waiting with the police a couple of blocks out. When Johnny manages to get a confession out of him, the police will arrest Miguel's father and he'll be out of everyone's lives forever. I just need you to stay here and look after Miguel, and if he somehow wakes up and comes after us, delay him as much as you can."

Sam nodded. She knew that as bad of a plan as this was, it was infinitely better than Miguel going to talk to his dad alone.

"Now, I'm leaving you here alone with him. No dirty stuff, okay?" Carmen joked. Sam looked at Miguel, who was in an insanely deep sleep and probably wouldn't be awake for a while, and she giggled.

"Yeah, no promises." Sam joked in reply. Carmen laughed lightly and nodded at her son's girlfriend. Carmen absolutely loved Sam, much more than Tory. Carmen had always been suspicious of Tory, and she didn't like the person that Tory brought out in Miguel.

Carmen then walked into the living room and saw Johnny, a determined expression on her boyfriend's face. Johnny would be doing all of the hard work in the plan as Carmen would be safely with police a couple of blocks away. They couldn't risk Carmen - someone with a long history with the evil man - going in and getting hurt. At least with Johnny, with all of the assault charges the police had against him, they knew he could handle himself in there.

"You ready?" Carmen asked, taking her boyfriend's hand and walking towards the door. Johnny took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yeah, let's do this…"


	18. Chapter 18

Johnny and Carmen sat at the back of an undercover Detective car, and it parked a couple of blocks away from the compound. Johnny got out of the car and faced the detective. He was then fitted with a tiny, discreet microphone under his shirt.

"Remember. You need to record him admitting that he physically abused Mr. Diaz and his mother."

"Yeah, got it." Johnny said. The detective nodded at him.

"OK, let's go." He said. Johnny was directed into another unmarked car, which he would be driving to the motel. Johnny took a deep breath and pulled out a picture of him and Miguel that Miguel had taken during the Dee Snider concert and Johnny kept in his wallet at all times. He smiled at the expression of delight on his student's face. He needed to get that look back on his student's face. And to do that, he needed to complete this operation.

Johnny drove to the motel in silence, well aware that there was a microphone on his chest. He made it to the motel a couple of minutes later, and knocked on the door to room 31, the room Miguel's father was in. Expecting Miguel, his father opened the door, but his face dropped when he saw Johnny instead.

"Where's Miguel?" His father asked. Johnny pushed past him and walked into the apartment.

"Not here. Just big, bad me." Johnny replied. Miguel's dad shut the door behind him, and then turned to face Johnny.

"And who are you?" He snapped.

"A concerned party." Johnny replied. Mr. Diaz chuckled.

"You're going to have to give me more than that." His dad said.

"I'm Miguel's karate instructor." Johnny replied, opting to leave his relationship with Carmen out as he didn't want to trigger the man. Mr. Diaz raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Boy decided to do Karate?" He laughed. "Makes sense. He's probably too soft for a real man's sport like football, huh?"

"Hey! Miguel is ten times the man you'll ever be." Johnny growled. Mr. Diaz chuckled.

"Yeah right. So how bad is he?"

"Actually, he's a champion." Johnny snapped, getting annoyed at this man who was being so rude about his own son. "All Valley Champ. So next time you try and hit him, watch out."

Mr. Diaz chuckled.

"Yeah, Miguel and I sure had our differences back in the day. Boy just needed to be straightened up a bit. Taught how to be a man."

That's when Johnny snapped.

"A MAN?!" Johnny shouted. "Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't you beat him up several times; smash beer bottles on him; hit him with a baseball bat, a belt, brass knuckles?! You terrorised him growing up, and he still has nightmares about you now!"

Mr. Diaz shrugged.

"Yeah. Whatever it took for him to learn, right?" He replied. There it was. The confession. What the police needed to arrest him then and there. But suddenly, Johnny didn't care about that.

"Look, you have two options." Johnny growled. "First option, you walk into the police station right now and turn yourself in."

Mr. Diaz laughed in Johnny's face.

"And what's option 2?" He asked. Johnny scowled at him.

"Option 2 is that I eliminate you from Miguel's life myself. Permanently." Johnny growled, gearing up for a fight. He personally wanted to kill that man in front of him. The way Miguel's father spoke about his crimes towards his child so emotionlessly… Johnny wanted to wipe the slimy man out of existence entirely.

"Hmm. I guess I choose option 3." Mr. Diaz replied. Johnny looked at him, confused.

"What's that?" Johnny asked. Mr. Diaz then started to pull a gun from his coat, but that's when Johnny's karate instincts kicked in. The gun was kicked out of Miguel's father's hands before it was even pointed at Johnny, and it skidded harmlessly across the floor to the other side of the room. Johnny then opened his chest button in his shirt and ripped out the mic, stomping on it. He then charged at Miguel's dad, murder in his eyes…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

CRACK!

The terrifying sound of static rang through the police car as Carmen and a detective listened carefully. Carmen's eyes widened, terrified.

"What just happened?!" He cried. The policeman looked almost as worried as she did, which wasn't reassuring.

"We don't know. The mic's broken. He could've spilt water on himself by accident." The policeman reasoned unconvincingly.

"Or…" Carmen murmured. The policeman nodded.

"Or Mr. Diaz has found the mic and Mr. Lawrence is in trouble." He said. "But we've already got the confession we need to move in. There are police racing towards the motel as we speak. Everything's going to be okay, Ms. Diaz."

Carmen nodded and forced herself to stay calm. Johnny could handle himself in a fight. The policeman was right. Everything was going to be okay…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Johnny and Miguel's father landed blows on each other left and right. To Miguel's dad's credit, he had gotten a lot of good hits on Johnny, and he had even thrown him through the small table in the middle of the room. Johnny got his licks in too. He banged Mr. Diaz's head against the wall several times, before throwing him against the bathroom door, sending him crashing through into the bathroom. As Johnny prowled towards him in the motel bathroom, Mr. Diaz scrambled and grabbed the nearest thing he could use as a weapon: an empty glass of water, and he smashed it over Johnny's head. Johnny cried out in pain and stumbled back. Mr. Diaz tried to take the opportunity to follow up his attack with some punches, but Johnny dodged and weaved, before kicking Mr. Diaz in the back and sending him crashing into the bathroom sink, causing the sink to shatter on his head. Johnny, the 2 time All-Valley champ, ended up reigning supreme. Standing over the man's barely conscious body, Johnny grabbed him by the shirt collar and threw him out of the bathroom and into the actual room. The man wasn't going anywhere as Johnny had really done a number on him, so Johnny could take his time as he walked across the room and picked up the discarded pistol from the floor and pointed it at Miguel's father. The two men scowled at each other, nothing but hatred in their eyes. Johnny closed his eyes and his finger curled around the trigger, ready to pull the trigger and end the man's life, no matter what the cost was to himself.

However, despite all of his anger, Johnny couldn't pull the trigger. His hands trembled and he eventually dropped the gun onto the ground beside him. Mr. Diaz chuckled.

"Awww. How sweet. You're soft. Just like him." Miguel's father remarked, coughing up blood. Johnny glared at him and kicked him again, before standing on top of him.

"Miguel's not soft, and neither am I." Johnny growled. "I'm not going to kill you right now because you don't deserve to die. You deserve so much worse than that. You deserve to spend the rest of your life, sitting in a small, windowless cell, thinking about what you've done. About the lives you've ruined. The people you've hurt. You're going to spend the rest of your life in custody and starts in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

As if perfectly timed, at that moment, police burst into the motel room, guns aloft, and they quickly rushed over to Miguel's father.

"Mr. Diaz, you're under arrest for several counts of domestic abuse, child abuse, attempted murder, aggravated assault, and narcotics possession and distrubution." The Detective informed him. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say…"

As the policeman was reading Miguel's father his rights, Johnny finally let out a sigh of relief. He had done it. Everything was okay.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

_Miguel sprinted out of his childhood home in Ecuador one night, tearing his way down the road as fast as he could. His mom was staying the night with a nursing school friend as they had exams the next day, leaving Miguel in the hands of his monstrous father._

_"BOY?! BOY! GET BACK HERE!" His father yelled as he plodded along after his son, ready to beat the crap out of him when he found him. It was pouring rain so as his father got soaked with water, his anger level rose higher and higher. Miguel didn't dare stop running. Who knew what would happen to him if he stopped?_

_"BOY! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" His father bellowed, taking his belt off and wrapping it around his wrist, ready to beat Miguel with it when he found him. In his other hand was a flashlight, as it was pitch-black outside. They didn't live in the city: they lived in the countryside, so there weren't any car lights, streetlights, etc._

_Miguel kept running, and he eventually came to his family's old car. His dad had made a point to burn every one of the run-down cars he bought after a couple of months of using them, for reasons Miguel didn't know._

_"WHERE ARE YOU?!" He heard his father yell, a lot closer now. Miguel rushed over to the car and opened the trunk, diving inside and shutting it behind him in hopes his father wouldn't find him._

_"GET YOUR ASS BACK IN HERE, BOY!" His father shouted. Tears rolled down Miguel's face as he curled up in a ball in the trunk of the car and prayed._

_"RUNNING LIKE A LITTLE RAT! WHERE ARE YOU?!" His father shouted, finally reaching the car and shining it on the car. From the outside, it looked like no one was inside._

_"YOU CAN'T STAY OUT HERE FOREVER! YOU HEAR ME, BOY?!"_

_Miguel trembled in fear as he listened to his father shout into the darkness. Miguel had no idea if his father knew he was in the trunk of the car or not. All he knew is that his father was definitely closeby._

" _IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YA, BETTER HOPE I DON'T FIND YA!" His dad shouted, shining a light on the nearby trees as thunder and lightning exploded in the air._

_Miguel whimpered in fear as he heard the clap of lightning, and his father spun around to face his direction, and he realised where his son was hiding. He stormed over to the trunk of the car and swung it open. Light flooded into the trunk as Miguel stared up at his father, who was scowling wickedly at him. His dad cracked his belt across the side of the car, and Miguel winced at the sound of it. He knew that in a couple of seconds, that would be him. His dad grinned sadistically at him as he finally spoke..._

" _What did I tell you would happen if I found you boy?!"_

"NO!" Miguel shouted as he awoke with a start. He felt someone gently trying to shake him awake and his eyes fluttered open to see Sam standing over him, her eyes panicked, trying desperately to wake him from the flashback that had him shaking uncontrollably in his sleep. She initially thought it was a bad reaction to all of the Ambien his parents had slipped into his system, but as she heard him cry out in pain and mumble in his sleep, she realised that it was a nightmare.

Miguel slowly sat up in his bed, his head in his hands, as Sam gently comforted him. He was extremely confused. Where was he? What was going on? What time was it? He looked out his window and saw it was morning. Wait… no! It couldn't be morning! Because he was supposed to see his dad the night before, which meant…

Miguel started scrambling to get out of his bed, but Sam gently held him down.

"Miguel, calm down." She murmured.

"I have to go!" Miguel cried, desperately. "My dad…"

"Is in police custody." Sam said. Miguel's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?" Miguel stammered.

"He was arrested late last night. Sensei and your mom are at the police station right now. They want you to come join them as soon as you can."

Miguel's head was spinning as he attempted to take in the bombshell his girlfriend had just dropped on him.

"Woah, woah, woah, backup a moment. How does my mom even know my dad's in tow… you!" Miguel snarled, the events of the afternoon before rushing back to him. Sam's heart dropped. She knew she had betrayed him, but she hoped he would not hold it against her. It was for his own good.

"Miguel, please, hear me out!" Sam exclaimed.

"Why'd you do that, Sam?" Miguel muttered. "Why'd you betray me like that?"

"It was for your own good, Miguel!" Sam stated. Miguel sighed.

"Isn't that my decision to make? My mistake to make? I'm not a little kid. I'm 16 for God's sake!"

"Miguel, can I ask you something?" Sam asked. "What would you have done if the roles were reversed? If it was my dad who was the abusive criminal, and you were the one who was forced to watch the person you love most in so much pain? Would you have honestly kept the fact that I was going to meet with a highly dangerous man a secret from everyone?"

Miguel was lost for words. He knew that Sam was right. He would've definitely done the same thing. He wouldn't stand by and watch her get hurt.

"Sam, I… I'm so sorry." Miguel murmured. "You're right. You did the right thing. I've been such a jackass to you."

"It's okay, Miguel. You've kind of been going through a lot." Sam laughed. "Now come on. The police need to ask you a couple of questions about your experiences with your dad."

"What, like the phone call?" Miguel asked, confused. Sam shook her head.

"From what I understood from your mom, it's more about what happened back in Ecuador. They need your testimony to figure out all of the charges he's facing and then they can use that to put him in jail for the rest of his life."

Miguel's eyes widened and he shook his head, furiously.

"I'm not testifying." He stated, bluntly. Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Um… what? They can't charge him with anything if you don't testify." She stated. Miguel shrugged.

"Then so be it. I can't do it." Miguel murmured, tears in his eyes. Sam saw how much pain he was in and she quickly wrapped an arm around him.

"Miguel, what's going on?" Sam asked. "Why don't you want to testify?"

Miguel took a deep breath and looked at her.

"Same reason I never ran away from home after all of the shit he did to me in Ecuador." Miguel murmured. "I could've gone into the foster care system and disappeared from his life forever. But I didn't. I stayed, and I endured years of beatings, whippings and straight-up torture, not wanting to leave for one reason: he's my dad. He's always going to be my dad. So I feel… I feel some kind of sick allegiance to him."

Sam nodded, understanding Miguel's emotions instantly.

"I get it, Miguel, but you've gotta think about something." She said. "What happens if your dad walks free, and then next year, or even years from now, he has another kid and puts them through the exact same thing you went through. You have the opportunity to save that kid by giving the statement."

Miguel slowly nodded and put his head in his hands in shame.

"I'm so sorry, Sam, for all of this." Miguel murmured. "I'm such a mess. Why do you even like me?"

"I guess because you're almost as much of a mess as I am." Sam replied. Miguel chuckled.

"Still. I shouldn't have gotten you into my mess." He said.

"Are you kidding? Your mess is exactly where I want to be." Sam smiled, before holding a hand out to help him off the bed. "Now come on. Let's go…"


	19. Chapter 19

Miguel and Sam walked into the LAPD police station about an hour later after grabbing a quick breakfast from Starbucks. When they walked into the police station, they were directed up to the precinct's bullpen, where they were met by Johnny and the Detective in charge of the case. Johnny had a couple of stitches and a black eye on his face: clearly he had been in a fight with Miguel's dad. Miguel avoided eye contact with Johnny as the Detective spoke to them.

"So, Mr. Diaz, your father is in custody. As I think you were informed, you are going to have to give a statement, where I'm going to ask you various questions. After that, we will access the situation and formally charge Mr. Diaz. From there, he can either plead guilty or innocent. Guilty would send him straight to jail. Innocent would take things to court. So, Mr. Diaz, if you'd like to come with me, we can get started." The Detective stated. Miguel raised a hand to stop him.

"Um… Could you give me a minute? I need to talk to him." Miguel said, pointing at Johnny. The Detective nodded and Miguel and Johnny walked out of earshot of the rest of the group. Miguel handed Johnny the large travel mug of coffee that was in his hands.

"I heard you had a rough night. Thought you could use this." Miguel murmured. Johnny looked at it and raised an eyebrow. Johnny knew that Miguel knew how much he disliked coffee.

"Coffee?" Johnny asked, shuddering. Miguel chuckled and shook his head.

"It's Coors beer." Miguel replied. "Thought you could use it, but I didn't the police would appreciate you drinking openly around them."

Johnny accepted the travel cup gratefully.

"Thanks, kid." Johnny said, cracking a smile at how much Miguel had changed since he met him. The Miguel he had met a year ago would NEVER have thought about sneaking alcohol into a police station. Johnny's temporary moment of happiness quickly vanished as he remembered what him and Carmen had done behind Miguel's back. "Look, Miguel. I…"

Miguel interrupted him with something completely unexpected. He threw his arms around his sensei and hugged him tightly. Johnny, confused, accepted the hug and hugged his student tightly back.

"Thank you. SO much, Sensei. For all of it. Even if drugging me was a bit cold." Miguel said, joking at the end. Johnny chuckled.

"Well, it was that or I knock you out with my fists so you tell me which one you would have preferred." Johnny replied. Miguel laughed.

"Fair point." He replied,

"So we're good?" Johnny asked. Miguel looked him straight in the eye and nodded.

"Yeah. We're good." Miguel replied. Johnny looked visibly relieved at this. The two of them walked back to where the Detective and Sam were waiting. Miguel nodded at the Detective.

"You ready?" The Detective asked. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, but can I have her with me?" Miguel asked, slipping his hand in Sam's, and as Sam felt Miguel's hand tremble in hers, she realised how terrified he was about the statement he had to give. She squeezed his hand comfortingly, but the Detective looked unsure.

"We'd prefer if it was a 1 on 1 conversation with just the victim and the cop." The detective said.

"Please. For emotional support." Miguel pleaded. The cop saw the fear in Miguel's eyes and eventually nodded.

"Yeah, okay." The detective relented. Miguel nodded in relief and his hand tightened in Sam's. The two of them were led into a private interrogation room, and the only difference between them and any criminal suspect that previously sat in that room was the fact that they weren't in handcuffs. Miguel and Sam sat opposite a policeman, who placed a recording device in the middle of the table. Miguel was terrified at this point, and it took Sam holding his hand and her arm around him for him to stay calm. Miguel honestly didn't know what he would do in his life without Sam. She was the best thing to ever happen to him, and he was so incredibly lucky to have her in his life.

The first thing that happened was that Miguel had to verbally sign a consent form that his statement would be recorded and would be on the record. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they began the actual Q/A.

"When was the first time your father physically abused you?" The cop asked. Miguel closed his eyes. That night was vividly etched in his memory, and probably would be for eternity.

"Um… I was 9 years old. It was back home in Ecuador. My dad had been drinking. My mom was working late that night so she wasn't home. I was playing with a soccer ball. I accidentally broke a pot plant. My dad stormed over and he hit me across the face."

"With his hand?" The cop asked.

"That time, yeah." Miguel replied.

"But he has used other things before?"

Miguel nodded

"Oh yeah. Definitely." Miguel replied.

"What exactly has he used to physically abuse you?" The cop asked. Miguel chuckled mirthlessly and put his head in his hands as the nightmares came rushing back thick and fast. Once again, Miguel started to squirm around in his seat, and it took Sam's calming words for him to stay calm.

"Um… let's see. He's used his fists and hands obviously. There was a baseball bat. Glass beer bottle. Belt. Brass Knuckles. Mini Screwdriver."

"I'm sorry, mini screwdriver?" The cop asked. Tears formed in Miguel's eyes as he stood up and rolled up his shirt slightly. Sure enough, just above his waist were numerous crossed scars that had clearly been made by a screwdriver. Sam started trembling slightly when she saw the evidence of her boyfriend's torture, but she forced herself to hold it together. For Miguel. Even the cop closed his eyes in pain at the thought of a child abused like that.

"Yeah, pretty gnarly, huh?" Miguel remarked. The cop slowly nodded.

"Yeah, do you mind telling us what happened?"

Miguel took a deep breath and nodded.

"It was when I was 11. In the past, I had had an irrational fear of needles, and my school were getting their mandatory injections done…"

**5 years ago…**

_It was injection day in school - the school forced all of its students to get the country's mandatory vaccines on campus - and it was always Miguel's least favourite day of the year. Even at age 12, Miguel still had an irrational fear of needles. Whenever he even saw one, he began to hyperventilate, and having to get an injection in front of his other classmates would be utterly humiliating for him._

_Therefore, Miguel decided to cut classes that day. He came home to an empty house at 4 pm: thankfully, his father was not home from work, and his mom was also still at nursing school. He was extremely lucky that neither were home to hear about how Miguel cut school. The school had called, Miguel had answered pretending to be his dad, and that was supposed to be the end of it. However, he wasn't that lucky._

_That night, his father stormed into the house, slamming the door behind him and throwing his toolbox on the ground. Miguel's father was a 'handyman', or at least that was his day-job to cover his gang actions._

" _HEY, BOY! GET IN HERE!" His dad shouted. Miguel groaned as he heard his father enter the house, and he slowly walked out into the living room._

_"Hey, dad." Miguel murmured._

_"So…" His dad scowled at him. "Your principal came to see me at work today. Told me you cut class. Now, why'd you do that, son?"_

_"Didn't feel like school." Miguel grunted in reply. His father raised an eyebrow._

_"Is that so? Because in the past two years, you have cut class exactly twice, both times on your school's injection day. If I didn't know better, I'd say you have a fear of injections." His dad remarked. Miguel's face paled slightly, but he forced himself to stay calm._

" _I'm not afraid." Miguel snapped. His father nodded._

_"Good. Then let's go get your injection now." His dad replied._

_"NO!" Miguel stammered, too quickly. His father grinned sadistically at him._

_"I knew it! You are afraid!" His father said, before reaching into his toolbox and pulling out a small screwdriver. "And you know what I saw about fears, don't you?"_

_"Men don't have fears." Miguel murmured. His father nodded._

_"Damn right, they don't. And if they do?"_

_"You remove the fear." Miguel stammered. His father held the screwdriver aloft and nodded._

_"Yup. You REMOVE it." His father agreed, before lunging at Miguel and pinning him to the ground. His father was a massive guy and Miguel was only 12, so he was powerless to fight back. His dad wielded the screwdriver and began to stab holes in Miguel's side, trying to knock Miguel's fear of needles right out of his system._

**Back to the present…**

"Upside, I no longer have a fear of needles. Downside, I now hate screwdrivers." Miguel concluded. By the end of the story, Sam also had tears in her eyes, and the cop was also close to tears. They couldn't believe Miguel had been abused this way, and that he had kept it a secret from everyone but his mom until now. He didn't want to seem like even more of an outsider when he moved to Reseda so he forced his mom to keep it a secret. Besides, he had assumed he'd never have to see his father again.

"That's horrible. I'm so sorry, son." The cop said. Miguel shrugged.

"It made me into the man I am today." Miguel replied, gruffly, not wanting to elaborate. The cop nodded.

"Okay. So right now, we have him nailed down on child abuse, domestic abuse, aggravated assault, narcotics possession, narcotics dealing. Is there anything we have incorrect, or anything we missed?"

"Um… those all seem about right. There is one more though. He tried to kill me." Miguel stated. He heard Sam's breath hitch in her throat in worry and the cop's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" The cop asked, leaning forward in his seat.

"I mean he pulled a fucking gun on me, he shot, he missed." Miguel growled. This was his most common recurring nightmare, and he saw it at least once every night.

"Do you mind elaborating, if it's not too difficult?" The cop asked. Miguel glanced sideways at Sam, and put his arm around her, pulling them closer together. He needed her warmth and her comfort if he were going to get through the story. The policeman had to hold back a smile as he saw the couple interact. He had seen many high school couples walk through the doors of the precinct, and he had developed a 6th sense to know if that couple would go all the way and make it, or they would be broken up by the end of high school. The two in front of him would definitely make it. Miguel closed his eyes, took a deep breath and began.

"Well, I was 12, and I had just gotten a B in my Math test…"

**4 years ago…**

_Miguel and his 2 friends had just come back to Miguel's house after school. That day had not been a great one. He had gotten his first B in Math that year, and he knew his father wouldn't be happy. His dad would get angry if he got anything less than an A+, and to get a flat B… his dad would be fuming._

_Luckily, his dad wasn't home when his friends walked into the house, so they collapsed in the living room, turning on the TV and playing a game of Mario Kart. They played for several hours as the time flew by. Miguel loved video games as they provided him with a temporary distraction from the hellish life he lived in.  
_

_At that moment, one of Miguel's best friends, Isabella, was playing and she was having an incredible run._

_"Jake, she's gonna beat your record." Miguel remarked as he watched his friend's score increase and increase._

_"Yeah, like I already beat yours." Isabella laughed as she roared across the line in first place. "Ha! Beat that! New high score!"_

_Suddenly, the door to the house swung open._

_"BOY, YOU HOME?!" Miguel heard his dad yell from the other side of the house. Miguel and his two friends leapt off the sofa in alarm. They knew about Miguel's current living situation, but Miguel had made them swear not to tell anyone._

_"Oh, crap! You guys have got to go. Get out the back!" Miguel exclaimed, gesturing to the back door. His friends nodded and ran out the back door._

_"WHERE ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE RABBIT!" His dad shouted. Miguel slowly walked into the entrance of the house, where his father was standing. Miguel immediately noticed that his father was extremely drunk. Little did Miguel know that his dad had lost his job that morning, so he was already in a foul mood._

" _Hey, dad." Miguel mumbled as he entered the room. His dad looked at him and scowled._

_"Speak up when I call you." His dad slurred. "So now you're failing out of school?"_

_"Dad, it was just one B. Let me just…"_

_"You'd think after last time, you'd have learned something." His dad remarked, taking off his belt and wrapping it around his wrist. Miguel's blood ran cold when he saw it. "But… I guess I went too easy."_

_"No, sir." Miguel stammered, desperately._

_"Shut up!" His dad snapped, drunkenly. "I'm getting real tired of your excuses."_

_"I'm tired of getting hit." Miguel mumbled under his breath. His dad looked at him and raised an eyebrow._

_"What's that?" He snapped. "Now you're gonna talk back to me?"_

_He then lunged at Miguel, and sent a massive backhand at his son's face with his belt still wrapped around his hand. Miguel cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, falling into the back of the wall._

_"Talk back now, you little smartass!" His dad laughed evilly as he hit his son. Miguel stared at his father and realised something… his father had absolutely no self-control anymore. The alcohol had broken any moral barriers he had left, and Miguel genuinely thought he might die that night. As Miguel felt his back against the wall, he looked sideways and his eyes widened when he saw his only lifeline… the family rifle!_

_Miguel grabbed the gun and instinctively pointed it at his dad, cocking it. His dad chuckled, unfazed._

_"Ah, well, look at this. Look who's a cowboy." He slurred. "Okay, cowboy. You keep your finger on that trigger, and you pull."_

_His dad suddenly grabbed the gun and placed it against his own head rather than pushing it away._

_"You're not going to go through with it." He whispered. Miguel trembled as his finger curled around the trigger. Eventually, as Miguel did nothing, his dad laughed and slapped the gun away, grabbing it from his son and kicking the weak boy on the floor. Before Miguel could scramble to his feet, his father had the gun trained on him._

_"See, I told you. Soft, just like your ma. You ready for this boy? You ready to make your peace with death?" His father snapped._

_"NO, DAD! PLEASE! NO!" Miguel begged, but it was no use. Miguel's dad squeezed the trigger, his hands shaking and his eyes twitching from the copious amounts of alcohol he had drank, and Miguel finally heard a loud BANG!_

_However, somehow, Miguel didn't feel the gunshot. Instead, he felt the floorboard next to him erupt into splinters as the bullet landed next to him. THANK GOD! His father was so drunk that he missed the shot. His father chuckled._

_"You got lucky there, son. I guess I'll try again tomorrow." His dad slurred, before stumbling into his room for the night to sleep off the alcohol…_

**Back to present day…**

"My mom came home shortly after and saw me there. That's when she finally realised enough was enough, and we fled the country the next morning before he woke up, not even taking any luggage at all."

At the end of the story, both Sam and the policeman were tearing up at the horrific tale, and Sam clung onto her boyfriend like a vice. Surprisingly, Miguel wasn't crying at this point. He was instead… numb to the pain, which was in a way, a lot worse. Finally, the policeman spoke.

"Oh, my God. Um… I am truly, truly sorry you had to go through that. The State of L.A would almost definitely be willing to pay for whatever psychological counselling needs you might have. Hopefully your testimony today will help prevent anyone else going through what you went through in the hands of that wicked man."

"Yeah, I hope so too. So what now?" Miguel asked. The policeman nodded.

"Well, we have all of the charges confirmed now. He's definitely facing life without parole for what he did." The cop said. "Like I said before, if he pleads guilty, he goes straight to jail. If he pleads innocent, he goes to court, but he's kind of screwed there. He's not going to get away with an insanity plea so he's cooked either way. It's in his best interest to just plead guilty and avoid paying for lawyers. Thank you so much for giving this statement. I think we're done with your services for now. We'll call you in the next day or so when your dad's decided whether he's pleading innocent or guilty."

Miguel nodded and stood up, and him and Sam walked out of the room. Once they were out, Miguel grabbed Sam and pulled her into an extremely tight hug.

"Thank you so much for being there, Sam. I couldn't have done this without you." Miguel murmured. Sam clutched him even tighter. She couldn't believe how much Miguel had omitted about his past. How he got out of bed was a miracle to her. He was by far the strongest person Sam knew.

"I love you so much." Sam whispered, tears prickling in her eyes. "And know that if you ever want to talk about any of this…"

"Thanks, Sam, but I think I just want to go home and take my mind off of this until I get the call with the verdict."

Sam nodded and took his hand.

"Okay. Let's go."

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

For 24 hours, Miguel heard nothing from the police. It was scarily silent. Miguel hoped and prayed that everything would soon be over, but he needed closure on the situation for that to happen, and for that, he needed to find out if his father was pleading guilty or not.

He was lying in his bed late the next night when suddenly, his phone rang. Miguel leapt out of his bed and grabbed it, answering it immediately.

"Hello?" Miguel asked.

"Mr. Diaz? It's Detective Johnson from the LAPD. I'm calling about your father's case." He said. Miguel's hands started shaking and he immediately started sweating.

"Well, what's the verdict?" He asked.

Five minutes later, Miguel walked out of his room, his face white in shock and his hands still trembling. Johnny was in the living room when Miguel walked out. Miguel had tears in his eyes and Johnny leapt to his feet, concerned. Normally, Johnny would merely tell Miguel to stop being a pussy and man up, but after all of the shit that Johnny had learned his dad had put his son through, Johnny had made a vow to start being kinder to Miguel.

"Kid, you okay?" Johnny asked.

"The… the police called. With my dad's plea." Miguel stammered. Johnny's eyes widened.

"Well?" Johnny asked. Miguel pulled his sensei into a long hug before letting go and telling him the verdict.

"He's pleading guilty." Miguel murmured. Johnny let out a sigh of relief and he hugged his student in delight.

"He's pleading guilty! Thank God! This is finally over!" Johnny exclaimed, ecstatically. Miguel nodded as he hugged his sensei, feeling infinitely better than he had in two weeks.

"Yeah. It's all finally over…"


	20. Chapter 20

"Ayyyyyy! Look who's back!" Hawk exclaimed as Miguel walked into training the next morning. It was his first time in training since his incident with Demitri, and Miguel was feeling infinitely better than he was that day. For the first time in two weeks, he had slept completely through the night without any nightmares, and he was feeling extremely refreshed and ready to train. Johnny and Daniel had told everyone to meet them at the lake, so the group stood about 100 yards away and waited for the two senseis to arrive. They assumed that because they were by the lake, they would be doing Daniel's peaceful training that day.

Miguel immediately walked over to Demitri, who still had a bandage on his face after Miguel's beatdown on him, and he held out a hand in apology.

"Hey, man. Look, I'm really sorry. I wasn't in a good place, and I didn't mean to…"

"Dude, it's fine." Demitri laughed. Miguel raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect it to be this easy.

"Um… it is?" Miguel asked, confused. Demitri nodded.

"Yeah, you saved my ass so many times last year from Kyler and those guys. I owe you for that. I guess now we can call it even." Demitri said. Miguel nodded and the two shook hands.

"Thanks, man." Miguel murmured. Shortly after, Daniel and Johnny walked over to them, each carrying their own duffel bag and dumping them on the ground before turning to their students.

"Okay, guys! Listen up!" Johnny shouted. Everyone immediately snapped to attention at Johnny's commanding bark. "We've been easy on you guys so far! Let you slack off!"

"We haven't been slacking off." Demitri remarked.

"QUIET!" Johnny shouted. "But you know who isn't slacking off? COBRA KAI! So your real training begins today!"

Johnny then pulled out long pieces of rope, and the group raised an eyebrow. What was he doing this time?

"Demitri! Larusso! Get over here!" Johnny snapped. Sam and Demitri looked at each other, confused, and walked over. Normally, whenever Johnny was experimenting with a new drill, he got Miguel and Hawk to demonstrate.

As soon as they walked over, Johnny pushed them shoulder-to-shoulder, and began to tie their inside legs together.

"Oh, so we're doing a three legged race?" Sam asked. Johnny chuckled as he tied a knot.

"Of a sort." Johnny grunted.

"And why aren't Miguel and Hawk your guinea pigs for whatever weird drill this is?" Demitri asked. Johnny raised an eyebrow and laughed.

"Because they've already done this before. And, they're indispensable. I don't want them to accidentally die." Johnny murmured quietly, loud enough for only them to hear. Sam and Demitri looked at each other, terrified, and tried to spin around to face Johnny but couldn't because their legs were tied together.

"Um… WHAT?!" Sam exclaimed. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Don't get your panties in such a bunch, Larusso. You probably won't die." Johnny stated.

"PROBABLY?!" Demitri cried. Johnny suddenly stood up, having finished tying their legs together with a two meter long tail of rope trailing behind them.

"OK, guys. Here's the drill. You just have to run into the water." Johnny stated, pointing to the lake situated around 100 yards away. Everyone was confused. That seemed kind of tame.

"That's it? Thank God!" Demitri exclaimed, relieved. Johnny shook his head.

"Hold on, Big Mouth. There's more." Johnny said, grabbing his duffel bag and walking directly behind Sam and Demitri so they couldn't see him. He then pulled out a lighter and Miguel closed his eyes. He already knew what the drill was, and he knew that it didn't work. Johnny lit the lighter, and held it to the end of the tail of rope until it caught fire too.

"Okay. You have about 10-15 seconds before the fire spreads to the end of the rope and onto your legs and burns you. Better run fast." Johnny stated. Sam and Demitri looked down and almost had a heart attack. The fire was quickly running up the tail of rope like the tip of a firework, ready to explode as it hit their legs. Daniel was just as terrified, and he stood there, motionless, as the fire slowly crawled towards his daughter.

"COME ON! MOVE!" Johnny shouted, as the fire edged its way nearer, but Sam and Demitri remained on the same spot, paralysed in shock. Johnny's booming voice pulled them out of their shock, and they sprinted towards the bank, forcing themselves to work as a team, despite their desperation. It was the only way they would get there in time. At the very last moment, just as the fire licked at the back of Sam's calf and she cried out in pain, the two made it to the lake and dove straight in, extinguishing the fire. Johnny clapped his hands as Daniel helped carry the bound pair back to the rest of the group.

"Dad." Sam whispered, in pain, and Daniel looked down to see Sam rolling up her pant leg and revealing a small burn from the drill, but a burn nonetheless. Daniel's eyes blazed in fury as he saw his daughter injured, and he stormed over to Johnny, shoving him backwards.

"What the hell, Larusso?!" Johnny spat, as the rest of the group watched in shock and alarm.

"YOU INJURED MY DAUGHTER, YOU ASSHOLE!" Daniel snapped. Johnny shrugged.

"It was a tiny burn. It'll heal in a few days. Big deal. Suck it up, princess." Johnny remarked. Daniel, enraged, slapped Johnny across the face. Now it was Johnny's turn to get mad. He started to advance towards Daniel menacingly.

"You really want to fight, Larusso?! You want all of your students to watch as I kick your ass?!" Johnny shouted. Daniel chuckled mirthlessly, raising his hands.

"I'd like to see you try." He growled. Just as Johnny was about to strike, Miguel stood in between the two of them, forcing them to stop.

"STOP!" Miguel yelled. "The whole point of that drill was about working together in desperate situations, trusting one another. Isn't it a bit hypocritical of you guys to tell us to do something, and not follow through with it yourself?"

"You agreed for us to work together as partners, Larusso!" Johnny snapped. "You don't like my methods? TOUGH! My methods got a student to the All-Valley final last year, so I know they fucking work! You need to trust me when I say I'm not going to do anything that gets anyone killed, but injuries only make people stronger! Whatever injuries these kids get training with me are NOTHING compared to what they'll be on the receiving end of if we lose the All-Valley and Cobra Kai stay forever! You can't train in your dumb, pussy dojo and tuna pond forever!"

"It's a Koi fish pond." Miguel murmured to his sensei quietly.

"Whatever!" Johnny snapped. "So Larusso, you either trust me and we win the All-Valley TOGETHER, or you go back to your dumbass, lame methods and get knocked out in the first round! Which is it?"

Daniel knew that Johnny had him on the ropes here. He needed that man and his training methods if they wanted to win the All-Valley, but he was too angry to care. His hot-headed attitude was clouding his judgement.

"Fuck you, Johnny. One more injury and you're out of here!" He growled. "TRAINING IS OVER FOR TODAY! EVERYONE, GO HOME!"

With that, Daniel stormed away from the woods and drove off in his car…

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That afternoon, Sam got her leg bandaged up. It really was a small burn so it didn't even require her going to the hospital, and it would probably be fully healed in maximum one week. In the evening, she walked downstairs to find her dad in their home dojo, still seething in anger after the incident from that day.

"Hey, dad." Sam said, as she walked into the dojo. Daniel looked at her and smiled.

"Hey, sweetie. How's your leg?" Daniel asked. Sam shrugged.

"It really wasn't that bad. It's fine." Sam replied. Daniel scoffed.

"Not that bad? It shouldn't have happened in the first place, Sam!" Daniel snapped. "How that man is still allowed around kids is beyond me!"

"Dad…" Sam took a deep breath. "You need to trust him more."

Daniel glared at her.

"You too?" He snapped. Sam sighed.

"You can't keep treating him like your enemy. He's a good sensei." Sam said. Daniel once again scoffed.

"He's a maniac. A lunatic! You can't trust him! You could've died today, for God sake!" Daniel exclaimed. Sam shook her head.

"Dad, stop." Sam stated. "He knows exactly how far to push his students. Sure we might get small scrapes once in a while, but I know he would never let any of us get badly injured. He's making us stronger, dad!"

Daniel looked at his daughter, his eyes wide. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from this daughter. That's when he realised…

"This isn't you talking, is it?" Daniel stated. Sam looked at her dad, confused, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?" She asked.

"I said this isn't you talking, is it? It's Miguel." Daniel stated. Sam shrugged and nodded. Daniel scowled. "I can't believe you, Sam! How can you trust him over me?"

"I never said that!" Sam snapped, starting to get pissed herself. "I'm just more likely to listen to someone who went from nerd to All-Valley champ in ONE year with Sensei Lawrence, than his petty, childhood rival!"

"He's dangerous, Sam! Miguel's LUCKY he hasn't been seriously injured by Johnny's training methods!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Yeah, instead he was gravely injured by YOUR student's methods instead." Sam shot back, biting her tongue when she realised she had taken it a step too far.

Despite everything, Daniel still really cared about Robby, and he felt extremely about everything that had happened during and after the school fight with Robby and Miguel. Therefore, Robby had kind of become a taboo topic in their house, hence why Sam realised she had overstepped. She continued in a softer tone.

"Look, dad, Miguel and I are struggling to hold this team together right now and prevent Civil War from breaking out. I need you to put aside your personal differences!" Sam begged. Daniel scowled.

"Tell him that." Daniel spat. Sam sighed, getting even more frustrated with her insanely stubborn father now. Whoever told her that she was her father's daughter was definitely wrong. Anthony was SO much more like his father than Sam was, despite their different interests.

"You don't think Miguel is having the exact same conversation with Johnny right now?!" Sam snapped. "I'm telling you, Dad, Miguel and I are trying HARD to bridge the gap between the Miyagi-Dos and the Eagle Fangs, but we can't do this alone. We need you two to trust each other! So can you do that? Please? For me?"

Daniel sighed and looked at his hopeful daughter. He then looked down and saw her bandaged calf and he scowled again.

"ONE more chance! Johnny steps out of line ONE more time and I say sayonara and dump him out of the dojo forever!" Daniel spat. Sam glared at him.

"'Steps out of line?' He's your partner, dad, not your employee! He's right! You don't treat him like your equal!"

"Hey! It's not my fault his methods are bs!" Daniel spat. Sam groaned and put her head in her hands in annoyance.

"OH, MY GOD! Look, I'm done trying to reason with you, dad." Sam spat. "Kick out Johnny if you want. But you know that if you do, Hawk and Miguel are both leaving too and staying right at their sensei's side."

Daniel shrugged.

"We can win the All-Valley without them." Daniel stated. Sam laughed mirthlessly.

" _We_? Dad, there is no we!" Sam spat. "If you kick Johnny out for your own selfish, petty reasons, I'm going to be the first one knocking on Sensei Lawrence's door to become his third student…"


	21. Chapter 21

The next day, training was awkward, to say the least. Both Sam and Miguel had asked their respective senseis to retract the claws, but neither sensei had forgotten about the incidents of the day before. In addition, Daniel was extremely wary of Miguel's relationship with his daughter. If his conversation with Sam the night before had shown him anything, it was that his daughter trusted her boyfriend more than him. And not just any boyfriend… Johnny's protege! Just as Daniel was starting to get to care about Miguel and trust him, he realised that the boy was slowly turning Sam against him, whether he knew it or not. And he couldn't let that happen!

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The next morning, Miguel drove to training but to his surprise, Sam wasn't there. Miguel knew that Sam's mom and dad were out of town for their dealership business, and Anthony was staying with a friend, but he thought that Sam was still in town. He took out his phone and called Sam, but with no answer.

"Where could she be?" Miguel murmured to himself as he walked into training.

With Daniel not there, training was relatively lowkey, and at the end, Miguel picked up his phone and called Sam again. Surprisingly, she answered this time.

"Hey. Where were you today?" Miguel asked as he answered the phone.

"Hey, Miguel." Sam coughed. Miguel winced as he could tell Sam was extremely sick from her voice.

"Oh, my God. Are you okay?" Miguel asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just got a bad cold." Sam stated. "Thank God my family aren't home for me to pass it to them."

"Well, do you want me to come over and help you out?" Miguel asked.

"I should be okay. I'm going to try and get some rest." Sam murmured, but Miguel could tell from her tone that she needed help. The best thing about his relationship with Sam was that they could always tell what each other were thinking, even if they didn't straight-up say it aloud. Miguel hung up the phone shortly after, before turning to Hawk.

"Hey, buddy. I gotta go somewhere." Miguel said. Hawk glared at him.

"I thought we were playing laser tag this afternoon!" Hawk exclaimed. Miguel rolled his eyes. Hawk always did have insanely childish habits.

"Yeah, I was never playing laser tag." Miguel laughed. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you." Hawk said. Miguel quickly drove home and he begged his yaya to make a tupperware of her healing broth. After she did so, Miguel then drove over to Sam's house, and he rang the bell. No answer. He rang it again. No answer. Miguel sighed and clenched his jaw. He knew what he had to do.

After the Cobra Kai raid on their house, the Larusso had installed a much more high-tech security system, so Miguel couldn't just jump over the front gate without triggering an alarm. Instead, the only place he could possibly enter the house from was jumping the 10 foot side wall. Miguel did so, landing on his feet like a cat, and not dropping his tupperware of soup.

Cautiously, he walked into the house, wary that Sam wasn't answering the door so could be in trouble, but immediately relaxed when he heard the sound of congested snoring coming from Sam's room. He slowly tiptoed upstairs and opened the door. He saw Sam sleeping peacefully in her bed, tissues strewn all over her room. Miguel couldn't help but smile. Even sick and with no makeup on, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world. He noticed her shivering so he took off his jacket and placed it over her blanket for extra warmth. He then gently touched her forehead and noticed that she was burning up. He winced in sympathy and walked downstairs to cook the soup he had brought for her.

Sam woke up and she shot out of the bed when she heard noises coming from downstairs, wary of the Cobras who had broken into her house months before, but Sam stumbled and nearly fell over in her dizziness from her cold. She slowly grabbed the nearest weapon she could find in te dark, and then crept downstairs. She stumbled into the kitchen and saw Miguel turn around to face her, and he immediately held back a laugh.

"Ah. Please don't hurt me." Miguel joked into a dull, monotonous voice as he pointed at the 'weapon' in her hand. Sam looked at it herself for the first time and saw that it was merely one of her tiny, bright pink slippers. "You know, for someone so good at Karate and fighting, you'd think you'd be able to find something deadlier than a slipper."

"Shut up. I'm sick." Sam grumbled. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, no offense but you didn't seem too well on the phone so I'd thought I'd come by and see how you were doing." Miguel replied.

"You didn't need to do that." Sam murmured, before taking one more step and nearly falling over due to a nausea spell. Miguel quickly caught her and practically carried her onto the living room couch, laying a tray with a bowl of soup on her lap moments later.

"Here. Drink this. You'll be back to normal in 24 hours. I guarantee it." Miguel said.

"What, did you crush a whole vial of ibuprofen in here or something?" Sam asked. Miguel chuckled.

"Better. It's my yaya's famous healing broth. Trust me, it works." Miguel stated. "And added bonus, it tastes good too."

Sam took a small sip of it and felt the warm soup rush into her body, rejuvenating her body and making her feel better instantly.

"Wow, this is good." Sam stated, taking another large sip. Miguel laughed and sat on the sofa next to her. He grabbed the TV remote.

"You want to watch something?" He asked, turning on Netflix. Sam nodded and took the remote, scrolling through the various movies until she had found a movie she wanted to see.

"Here, let's watch this." She mumbled. Miguel looked up and saw her hovering over The Princess Bride. Miguel nodded and walked over to the speakers and turned them on. He then walked back to the couch, and placed a blanket over Sam. He then brushed past her feet as he was walking over to his place on the couch and he winced as he felt how cold they were.

"Jeez, you're freezing!" Miguel exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her for warmth. Sam closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth Miguel was generating. Miguel gently kissed her forehead.

"Thank you for coming." Sam whispered as the movie started. Miguel looked down at her and nodded.

"Anytime, babe."

The two spent the entire afternoon watching movies, and in the middle of the third one, Miguel heard a quiet snoring coming from beside him. He looked and saw that Sam had fallen fast asleep again. Discreetly so as not to wake her up, Miguel disentangled from the tight cuddle they were in and he silently turned off the TV. Miguel then carried her up bridal-style to her room as she still hadn't woken up, and he gently placed her on the bed. He was about to leave when he realised that Sam wasn't wearing pajamas, but was wearing normal clothes, which couldn't have been comfy at all to sleep in.

Miguel quietly went into her drawers to grab her pj's. He grabbed the first pair he could find. He then took off her skirt and put her pajama bottoms on, and then he took off her shirt and gently pulled it over her head. He put her pajama shirt on but didn't put her arms through the sleeves yet. Miguel made sure that the shirt was covering her entire torso before he reached behind her to undo her bra, being extremely careful when he pulled it off her shoulders not to touch anything. Although Sam and Miguel had gotten to third base in their relationship, Miguel didn't want to seem like he was taking advantage of his girlfriend being sick and asleep if he accidentally touched something. Then, once the bra was off, he helped her arms through the shirt. When her top was on, he picked her up again and lifted back the covers and gently placed her on the bed.

Miguel gently kissed her forehead and turned around, about to leave, when he heard a quiet "thank you" coming from the girl behind him. Miguel turned around and saw that her eyes were slightly open.

"No problem. I love you. Get well soon." Miguel whispered.

"Love you too." Sam mumbled back, before drifting asleep again. Miguel turned off the lights to her room and then walked out. Checking his phone, he realised that he had a lot of missed calls from his mom. His eyes widened when he realised that he hadn't told his mom where he was going, so she had no idea where he was.

"I was at my girlfriend's empty mansion, just me and her. We cuddled, watched a movie, but I swear we weren't having sex. Yeah, this is going to be an easy one to explain." Miguel murmured to himself sarcastically. He knew that if he was a parent, there's no way in hell he'd believe his kid if they told him that. He quickly got into his car and drove home, ready to explain himself to his mom.

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Miraculously, the next day, Sam felt nearly 100% back to normal. Miguel had taken such amazing care of her, and that soup he had given her had worked magic. Sam rolled out of bed and walked downstairs, to see parents staring at her and sitting at the dining table.

"Ah! Sam! Good morning!" Daniel said, forcing a fake smile onto his face.

"Um… you're acting weird." Sam remarked.

"Is he? No he's not!" Amanda stammered, too fast. "Sit down for a moment please."

Sam raised an eyebrow and sat down opposite her parents.

"Um… okay? What's going on? And drop the phony smiles please. You look creepy." Sam remarked. Her parents sighed and nodded, and her dad pulled out an iPad.

"We need to talk about this." Daniel said, turning the screen to Sam. Sam looked at it and saw that it was security camera footage of the outside of the house the day before, and she watched as Miguel scaled the wall and entered the house. Her eyes widened when she realised what her parents were interpreting it as.

"Look, It's not what it looks like." Sam stammered. Amanda raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Because it looks like my daughter's boyfriend sneaking in while the whole family is out of town by scaling up a wall, and leaving a couple of hours later."

"We weren't doing anything!" Sam exclaimed, indignantly. "I was sick, and Miguel came over to help me, and the only reason he didn't come through the front door is because I was asleep when he came so I wasn't answering the doorbell."

"Uh huh. Sure." Daniel said, unconvinced. "You don't look sick."

"Yeah, I'm not, because MIGUEL CAME AND TOOK CARE OF ME!" Sam snapped, getting seriously annoyed at her parents at this point. Who did they think she was? Did they really think she would invite Miguel for a sex romp the moment they went out of town?! She wasn't a slut!

Sam noticed from her parents' facial expressions that they still didn't believe her. She glared at them and stormed into the kitchen, taking out a tupperware of the leftover soup Miguel had brought the day before.

"Look, here! Miguel brought soup for me because I was feeling sick!" Sam exclaimed. She then stormed over to the garbage, and pulled out the garbage bag. She then walked back to her family and shoved it under their noses, causing them to wrinkle in disgust as Sam practically forced their heads into the bin.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Amanda asked, at a complete loss.

"LOOK!" Sam snapped. "Look at all the tissues in there! Why would I have used that many tissues if I wasn't sick?!"

Amanda and Daniel looked and realised that Sam wasn't lying. Amanda glared at her husband.

"See! I told you! Trust your daughter!" Amanda exclaimed to Daniel. Daniel sighed and nodded. It was him who noticed Miguel on the CCTV cameras, and he immediately thought the worst, planting ideas in his wife's head.

"Sam, we're really sorry." Daniel said. Sam nodded.

"You should me! You guys need to trust me! Especially you, dad! I'm your daughter!" Sam exclaimed. Amanda nodded and left the room shortly after, leaving just Daniel and Sam in the kitchen. Daniel was deep in thought. Although he was still slightly suspicious of Miguel (he always would be because he didn't want his daughter to get hurt), Miguel had clearly done a really nice thing for Sam the day before, so maybe he wasn't as bad as Daniel thought earlier.

"That was really nice, what Miguel did." Daniel murmured. Sam nodded.

"Yeah. He's a really nice guy." Sam replied. Daniel eventually nodded.

"Yeah, he is. Why did you guys break up again last year exactly?" Daniel asked. Sam's heart dropped. She knew that this topic was going to come up eventually, but she had no idea how her father was going to react. She knew her father was extremely protective, maybe too much so, so there was no telling how much he was going to flip out when he heard that Miguel had punched her in the face.

"Well, um… it's a long story." Sam stammered. Daniel shrugged.

"I've got time." Daniel replied. Sam took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Here it goes…

**5 minutes later…**

"HE DID WHATTTTT?!"


	22. Chapter 22

The next morning, Miguel walked into the Miyagi-Do dojo relatively early. He always came 30 minutes earlier than anyone else, as it gave him a half hour extra to train before the rest of the group arrived and training began. It was an unspoken consensus within the group that if any of them were going to top Robby in the All-Valley, it would Miguel, and Miguel felt every ounce of that pressure on his shoulders.

Twenty minutes later, the rest of the group started to arrive, with Sam the first person to show up, a worried expression on her face. Miguel walked over to her, and she kissed him quickly.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Miguel asked.

"Much better. Thank you so much for being there." Sam said, her face extremely nervous. Miguel noticed.

"What's up?" He asked. Sam closed her eyes, remembering the pure rage and fury in her dad's eyes when Sam had told him about what Miguel did that night at the party. That incident had dredged up all of the resentment Daniel had towards Johnny and Miguel for their actions at the All-Valley. Sam was half-surprised that her dad hadn't stormed over to Miguel's house to confront him that night, but she knew a confrontation was coming.

"Look, Miguel, I need to tell you something." Sam said, trying to warn Miguel about what had happened the night before. "Last night…"

Sam never got a chance to finish her sentence. At that moment, Daniel stormed into the dojo, wrath written across his face. Before Sam could say anything, Daniel had lunged at Miguel, shoving him backwards and punching him in the face.

"What the hell?!" Miguel gasped, as he stumbled backwards in pain.

"YOU HIT MY DAUGHTER?!" Daniel bellowed. Miguel's face went from extreme confusion to realisation in a matter of seconds.

"Wait… last year at the party?" Miguel asked. "I swear that was an accident, Mr. Larusso. I've apologised like a hundred times for it, and…"

THUD!

Daniel sent a second blow at the side of Miguel's head, too wrapped up in his anger to realise that he was beating up a teenager. Sam stood there, immobile in shock. She tried to move, to stop her father, but her body didn't seem to be responding to her brain. Miguel's back was to the wall, and despite his best efforts, he couldn't defend himself against the karate sensei.

"Mr. Larusso? Can I just say something?" Miguel spluttered, winded from a punch to his solar plexus, but seriously annoyed at this point. Daniel held off throwing a third punch as the student spoke again.

"WHAT?!" Daniel shouted.

"I swung at Robby, and ACCIDENTALLY hit Sam. You deliberately beating up a teenager… doesn't that make you worse than me?" Miguel snapped, just as angry as Daniel at this point. Daniel and Miguel were insanely similar - both of them had normally passive personalities, but also had extreme temper issues.

Daniel roared in annoyance and lunged at Miguel again, sending a punch at Miguel's ribs. Sam finally got over her shock and she rushed over, trying to pull her dad away from Miguel but failing.

"DAD, STOP!" Sam shouted, trying to grab Daniel's arm and pull him away, but he was too strong. At that moment, thankfully, Johnny walked into the dojo. His eyes widened and he dropped his bag in shock. He rushed over and pulled Daniel off of Miguel, doing what Sam couldn't, and shoving Daniel against the wall.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Johnny shouted. Daniel tried to shove Johnny out of the way, but Johnny wouldn't budge.

"Get out the way, Johnny! This doesn't concern you!" Daniel growled.

"Like hell, it doesn't! That's my kid you're whaling on!" Johnny spat, pointing at Miguel, who was being helped by Sam over to the side of the dojo, still trying to regain his feet after being severely winded. The rest of the students except Hawk had arrived at this point, and were watching this exchange, astonished. Tensions had finally boiled over between Johnny and Daniel, and they were about 5 seconds from going nuclear on each other.

"Move. Now." Daniel snarled.

"Make me." Johnny snapped. Finally, the long overdue fight between Johnny and Daniel erupted…

For the first time ever, Daniel struck first. He sent a vicious uppercut at Johnny's chin, which would have knocked him out if Johnny hadn't dodged. Johnny then sent a tornado kick Daniel's way, which connected with Daniel's back. Daniel fought back, hitting a flurry of kicks that sent Johnny flying back into the wall. Johnny wasn't out yet. Far from it. Johnny shouted out in anger and charged at Daniel, tackling him through the sliding doors of the dojo and into the back garden.

Daniel was severely dazed after the tackle, and he was totally at Johnny's mercy. The two were by the Koi pond at this point, and Johnny picked up a small rock that was lying next to the pool. He grasped the rock in his hands, ready to beat the rock over Daniel's head. Daniel had nothing but hatred in his eyes as he stared up at the blonde standing over him.

"Go on. Do it." Daniel growled, as Johnny gripped the rock tighter and tighter, his face red with rage but his hands white with the force he was grabbing the rock with. Johnny glanced sideways at Miguel, who had managed to stand up, and was shaking his head.

Miguel's eyes screamed at Johnny not to do it and eventually, Johnny's hand went limp and the rock slipped out. He then grabbed Daniel's arm and pulled him to his feet, shoving him backwards but not knocking him over.

"What are you doing?" Daniel spat, his words dripping with pure loathing.

"Being the bigger man." Johnny snarled. "This team-up is done. We can compete against you in the All-Valley. Bert, Penis Breath, Diaz, let's go!"

Miguel started to move towards Johnny, but Mitch and Burt didn't move. Johnny looked at them and raised an eyebrow.

"Guys, come on! Let's go!" Johnny snapped.

"Actually, I'm staying." Mitch said. Johnny scowled at him.

"What the hell, Penis Breath? Why?" Johnny spat.

"You literally just called me Penis Breath." Mitch remarked. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Assface. Let's go." Johnny said. Mitch didn't move.

"Mr. Larusso is actually nice to us." Mitch replied. Johnny sighed. He knew he had lost one of his students.

"Bert?" Johnny asked. Bert slowly shook his head.

"Sorry, Sensei." Bert murmured. Johnny nodded and turned to Daniel, who was grinning at him, triumphantly. Johnny glared at him.

"Don't look too happy, yet." Johnny growled. "I still have my champion. I brought him to the top of the mountain once. So help me God I'm going to do it again. Come on, Miguel."

Miguel nodded, scowling daggers at Daniel and the whole Miyagi-Do dojo, before spitting in the Koi pond and limping after Johnny, out of the Miyagi-Do dojo for the last time…

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"Here! Put this on your face, kid!" Johnny said, slapping an ice pack on Miguel's cheek, where a humongous bruise was flowering. The two had just gotten home and Carmen was out, so Johnny took charge in helping Miguel heal from his beatdown by Daniel. He couldn't believe Larusso had done that! Fight with him, FINE, but hurt the kid… that's when Johnny saw red. Miguel shrugged the ice pack off his face.

"Don't want it." Miguel grunted. Johnny rolled his eyes and shoved the ice pack roughly back onto Miguel's cheek.

"Shut up and hold it there." Johnny snapped. Miguel sighed and nodded, defeated. "Man, Larusso is such a bitch! What the hell is wrong with him, beating up a kid?!"

Miguel scoffed and Johnny glared at him.

"What?" He snapped.

"Nothing... it's just I think you're the last person who can make that argument, after fighting Kyler and those guys last year, and Robby and those guys this year." Miguel stated. Johnny shook his head furiously.

"No! That's different! Those assholes deserved it!"

"And I didn't?" Miguel asked. "I kinda did, sensei, and you know it. Like getting drunk and hitting a girl… that's something my father would do."

Johnny scowled at Miguel.

"You're NOTHING like your dad. You did it BY ACCIDENT."

"Still did it." Miguel stated. "And I've now taken my licks for it. So what now? Are we still competing in the All-Valley, or am I pulling out?"

Johnny looked at Miguel like he had gone insane.

"Pull out? What the hell are you talking about?! Only pussies pull out." Johnny stated, chuckling momentarily at his unintended innuendo. "Of course we're still competing! We don't need them to win the All-Valley! They needed us way more than we needed them. Everyone knew that you were going to be the one to win the All-Valley."

"Please. No pressure or anything." Miguel interjected, rolling his eyes. Johnny shrugged.

"Am I wrong or what?" Johnny asked. Miguel eventually sighed and shrugged.

"So we're competing?" He asked. Johnny grinned and nodded.

"Hell yeah, we're competing! Now, do you still have your old Eagle-Fang T-shirt?"

Miguel put his head in his hands, chuckling, but before he could answer, his mom walked into the house. Her eyes widened when she saw her son, but her reaction was thankfully a lot calmer than after Halloween the year before.

"What the hell happened?!" Carmen exclaimed as she rushed over to her son.

"It was Larusso." Johnny growled.

"Your girlfriend beat you up?" Carmen asked Miguel, slightly surprised.

"Her dad." Johnny spat. Carmen's eyes widened.

"An adult beat you up?! Oh, my God, Miggy! Do we need to press charges?!" Carmen exclaimed. Miguel chuckled.

"Mom, unless I explicitly say otherwise, the answer to that question will always be no. I fight my own battles." Miguel stated. Carmen sighed. Her son could be so stubborn sometimes - one of the parts of his dad she had hoped Miguel wouldn't inherit.

"Okay, fine. But at least tell me you're not training with him anymore!" Carmen demanded.

"Of course not. I'm training Miguel myself from now on, 1 on 1, like the good old days." Johnny stated. Miguel couldn't help but smile. He was excited. Everything had gotten so complicated recently with their attempt to combine dojos and take down Cobra Kai, and Miguel was looking forward to bringing it back to how it used to be: less complicated and more fun.

Carmen still looked concerned. It was bad enough her son was target number 1 for the most-feared dojo in the Valley, but now he also had adults who used to be on his side also fighting against him? She didn't like the sound of that at all. Miguel put a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a hug.

"I'll be fine, mom. So what I got slapped around a little bit? It just means I need to get stronger for next time. And besides, I got Sensei in my corner again. How can I lose?"

"He says, with the bloody eye." Carmen remarked. She eventually sighed."Okay. I'm not on board for all of this, but I trust both of you. But if either of you come back here with a bloody face or a broken nose, I'm gonna say I told you so."

Miguel smiled and nodded. Now, he had some serious training to do if he wanted to be strong enough to fight off any ambushes Cobra Kai or Miyagi-Do would throw at him before the tournament. He no longer had people at either side of him to have his back. Well, he still had Johnny, and as far as Miguel was concerned, that was all he needed…

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"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Sam shouted at her dad later that day. "YOU BEAT UP MIGUEL?!"

"It was just 4 punches! And besides, he hit you, Sam! You said it yourself!" Daniel exclaimed. Sam scowled at him.

"Yeah, and he apologised like a million times for it, and he's more than made up for it! I've forgiven him, and we moved on!"

"You don't get it, Sam! People like that… they don't change!"

"What, you mean people who talk with their fists, not their words?! Yeah, I noticed!" Sam snapped, glaring at her father. "But Miguel isn't one of those people! If you actually knew him, you'd know that he is one of the most laid-back people in the world!"

Daniel sighed.

"Look, Sam, you have no idea what it's like to be a father." Daniel stated. Sam sighed.

"Honestly, neither do you!" Sam spat. "A good father doesn't go and BEAT UP his daughter's boyfriends!"

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Amanda shouted, walking into the room at that very moment. "You beat up Miguel?!"

"Okay, you don't get it, Amanda! He hit Sam!" Daniel exclaimed. Amanda nodded.

"At the party last year? Yeah, I know. She told me." Amanda stated. It was Daniel's turn to be confused.

"She told you? When?" Daniel asked. Amanda shrugged.

"I don't know. Like a year ago?" Amanda replied. Daniel's eyes widened.

"A year ago?! Sam, you told her and not me?!" Daniel snapped.

"I wonder why, Daniel!" Amanda remarked, sarcastically. "I can't believe you did that! Not that I care about your weird, insane Karate cult very much, but how are you going to walk into training and face him and Johnny tomorrow?!"

"Well that's not a problem. Because of Dad's actions, Johnny and Miguel have quit permanently." Sam snapped. "You know, you're lucky I'm not joining them, and the only reason I'm not is because I believe in MR. MIYAGI'S style of Karate, not in you!"

With that, Sam stormed out of the room and Amanda's eyes widened. Although she didn't care about the karate part of the stupid war, she sure as hell cared about getting Cobra Kai kicked out of the Valley, as they were the ones who were terrorising her daughter.

"Wow. Daniel. I can't believe you." Amanda stated, in shock. "Look, here's what you're gonna do. Tomorrow afternoon, you're going to go down and see Johnny and Miguel, and you're gonna beg them to come back, because you know just as well as I that if you don't, you are going to lose the tournament, and Cobra Kai is going to stay forever. If you love your daughter enough to beat up her boyfriends, I think you love her enough to not want her to be terrorised by Cobra Kai for the next two years! Is that clear?"

"Amanda, I…" Daniel stammered.

"IS THAT CLEAR?!" Amanda shouted. Daniel drooped his head and nodded.

"Yes."

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The next morning, Miguel and Johnny were doing some punching training. They were at the public park again, and Johnny was using his two small hand targets and was sparring with Miguel. They had been going for several minutes and Miguel was exhausted.

"Sensei… I… Need… Rest…" Miguel panted between breaths.

"No! Rest is for pussies! Rest isn't for champions!" Johnny exclaimed. But Miguel was granted 30 seconds of rest, and he sipped his water bottle as he saw someone walking towards them. His eyes widened.

"Is that…?" Miguel's voice trailed off. Sure enough, moments later, Hawk had walked all the way over to their corner of the park. He hadn't been there when Miyagi-Do and Eagle-Fang split, so Hawk could be a potential student for them.

"Hey. I heard shit went down yesterday." Hawk remarked. "You got room for one more student, Sensei?"

Johnny smiled widely and nodded.

"Hawk! FALL IN!"


	23. Chapter 23

"Listen up everybody!" Daniel called to his students at the Miyagi-Do dojo the next morning.

All of the students had witnessed what had happened the day before, so they all gathered around slightly hesitantly.

"I need to apologise to all of you." Daniel stated. "What I did yesterday was horrifying. I've thought about it a lot in the past 24 hours. I betrayed everything Mr. Miyagi and Miyagi-Do stands for. I let my anger and temper get the better of me. I spoke with my fists, rather than my words. I beat up a kid, for crying out loud! I know that Mr. Miyagi would have been ashamed of me. Because Miyagi-Do is not about beating people up. It's about forgiveness. Mr. Miyagi always said that if you're looking for revenge, you can start by digging two graves. I understand if after yesterday, some of you might want to switch to Johnny's dojo." Daniel said, glancing in Sam's direction for this part. "I'm not going to stop you. I completely understand. What I did was unforgivable. But if you stay in Miyagi-Do, I vow to teach you the right way of Karate."

"Mr. L, we're all staying." Demitri stated. "But you do have two students and a sensei who have quit, and we can't win without them."

"Yeah, we're not the ones you owe the apologies to." Sam added. Daniel nodded.

"I know, and I'm going to apologise to them later today…"

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KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in!" Kreese called. Kyler walked into Kreese's office after training that day, and he faced Sensei Barnes, Sensei Kreese and Sensei Silver. Kreese smiled at him.

"Kyler. What can I do for you?" Kreese asked.

"Senseis, did you hear the news about Lawrence and Larusso last night?" Kyler asked. Kreese raised an eyebrow.

"No, what's going on?" Kreese asked.

"Apparently, they got into a massive fight. Larusso was whaling on 'Rhea and Lawrence stepped in. The two started to fight, and ended up splitting dojos permanently. Hawk and 'Rhea went with Lawrence, and Larusso officially reopened Miyagi-Do with the rest of the students."

Kreese looked at Silver and Barnes, whose eyes were wide as they were thinking the exact same thing as Kreese.

"Thank you, Kyler. Is there anything else?" Kreese asked.

"No, sensei." Kyler said, before leaving the room. When he was gone, the three senseis looked at each other, grinning.

"If Larusso was whaling on Lawrence's kid and it caused Lawrence to start a fight with him…" Barnes started.

"It means that the two split on really bad terms…" Silver continued.

"Which means Lawrence will want to get back at Larusso…" Barnes continued.

"Which means we might be able to convince him and his students to rejoin Cobra Kai." Kreese finished, before turning to Silver. "Silver, take out your cheque book. If we want Lawrence to come home, he needs to have some extra incentive…"

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"Dude, you put up a basketball hoop?!" Hawk exclaimed gleefully as they walked into Miguel's compound that afternoon and he ran over to the basketball hoop that was hammered to the wall. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Don't get so excited. It's the lid of a laundry bin with a circular hole cut in the middle." Miguel laughed. Hawk shrugged.

"Doesn't bother me." He replied. "Come on! Let's have a game!"

Miguel nodded and grabbed a ball from his room. Him and Hawk spent around a half hour playing, before they heard a car pull up in front of the compound. They turned around and saw Mr. Larusso getting out of his car. Immediately, Hawk stormed over to him, and it took Miguel holding him back to stop him from punching the man in the face.

"Hawk, stop!" Miguel snapped, before turning to Daniel. "What do you want?"

"I want to apologise." Daniel said. "I'm really sorry, Miguel. I shouldn't have attacked you. I let my temper take control and it was extremely low of me to do that."

"Yeah, fine, whatever. I forgive you." Miguel said, not really caring or wanting the apology. At that moment, Johnny walked out of his apartment, and he saw Daniel standing opposite the two boys.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!" Johnny shouted, running over to them, his fists in tight balls, ready for the fight.

"Ok, easy, Sensei. Mr. Larusso was just apologising to me for beating me up and now he's just leaving." Miguel said. Daniel nodded.

"Yeah, so I'll see you guys at training tomorrow?" Daniel asked. Miguel, Hawk and Johnny looked at each other, confused.

"Um… what?" Miguel asked.

"Training. You guys are coming back to training, right?" Daniel said. Miguel, Hawk and Johnny looked at him and simultaneously started laughing hysterically. Daniel glared at them. "What?"

"You know, Mr. Larusso, I think I need to thank you." Miguel said, his tone back to serious.

"Thank me? For what?" Daniel asked, dumbfounded. Miguel sighed.

"If anything, that whole experience yesterday showed me exactly which side of this war I want to be fighting for, and it's not Miyagi-Do." Miguel replied.

"But… we're fighting the same fight! It's in our best interests to work together!" Daniel exclaimed. Miguel shrugged.

"Not necessarily. I don't believe in your methods of teaching, and your style of karate. It's no disrespect to you, it's no disrespect for Mr. Miyagi. I'm NOT coming back."

"Yeah, in case you didn't understand, the kid's telling you to fuck off." Johnny stated, bluntly. "We are Eagle-Fang and we're going to win the All-Valley, and you are going to be thanking God that we split apart from your dojo to form our own as none of your fighters even stand a chance of making the finals."

Daniel glared at Johnny, and turned back to Miguel, who sighed.

"Look, no hard feelings. I forgive you for beating me up, and I'm more than happy to apologise for the million and first time for hitting Sam that night. But that doesn't take away the fact that this whole thing was a wake-up call for us. The enemy of my enemy doesn't have to be my friend." Miguel stated, keeping a calm, cool tone to his voice like a diplomat. Daniel, however, wasn't as composed. His face went red with anger and he scowled at all of them.

"You guys are _so_ going to all live to regret this!" Daniel growled angrily, before storming back into his car, and beginning to drive away from the compound.

"Drive safely!" Miguel cheerfully called after him, causing Johnny to glare at him.

"Seriously?" Johnny remarked. Miguel shrugged.

"What? I just want to make sure he gets home safe!" Miguel said, laughing. Johnny rolled his eyes and put his head in his hands. Why did his champion have to be such a dork?

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Less than a half hour later, there was another unfamiliar car pulling into the driveway, and none other than John Kreese, Terry Silver and Mike Barnes stepped out. Miguel's eyes widened and him and Hawk immediately banged on Sensei Lawrence's door. Johnny walked out moments later, and when he saw who was standing there, his eyes filled with hatred, and he geared up for a fight.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Johnny growled. Kreese chuckled and raised his hands in surrender.

"Easy, Johnny. We're not here to fight." Kreese said. "I heard about what happened with Larusso and I was concerned. How's your eye?" Kreese turned to Miguel and asked, pointing to Miguel's prominent black eye. Johnny scowled at him.

"Look, if you don't turn around and leave in 5 seconds, I swear to God I'm calling the cops." Johnny growled. When it came to the safety of Miguel and Hawk, he wasn't taking any chances.

"Still got that temper, I see." Kreese stated. "That's good. I was afraid it all got washed away because of all that Miyagi crap you and your students were being brainwashed with."

"Larusso and I are done. But you know that. So why the hell are you here?" Johnny asked, genuinely perplexed now, his confusion overcoming his anger.

"Diaz, Hawk, do you boys take History in school?" Kreese asked. "Have you guys heard of the Battle of Hastings and the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066?"

"Yeah." Miguel replied. "It's when two groups wanted to take control of Anglo-Saxon England. King Harald Hardrada and his Norweigen force invaded the North of England. King Harold Godwinson sent his troops to defend, and they drove the Norwegians out to win the Battle of Stamford Bridge. But then, as Godwinson's men were all tired, distracted and in the North of England…"

"King William of Normandy, France invaded from the south, taking advantage of the previous battle and winning the battle to take control of England." Kreese finished. "I'm glad some people in this city know their history. I'm warning you, Johnny. This is what is going to happen to you. You are going to be so distracted and exhausted from fighting your battle against Larusso, that Cobra Kai is going to use it to their advantage and take control of karate in the valley forever. I don't want to have to go through you, Johnny, so I want to make you an offer. Come back home to Cobra Kai. We can take down that pussy Larusso and his Miyagi bullshit once and for all."

"How many times to I need to say no for you to get the message and fuck off?" Johnny snapped. Kreese chuckled.

"You didn't even let me make my offer!" Kreese exclaimed. "My friend, Mr. Silver here happens to have quite a lot of money. And I happen to know that that foster family you've been adopted into, the Diaz family, is in quite a bit of debt, due to a mess that your own son got them into. If you and your boys rejoin Cobra Kai, I will make sure every penny of his hospital bills is paid off within 24 hours."

Kreese was brilliant. Terrible, monstrous, but brilliant. He knew exactly what strings to pull, and how to manipulate Johnny to the point where Johnny was genuinely considering going back to Cobra Kai. He played at the guilt that was a metal ball inside Johnny's chest. The guilt that Johnny felt for letting down his son and letting him get so far gone that he did what he did to Miguel.

Miguel noticed the unsure expression on Johnny's face, and his eyes widened. His sensei was actually considering it!

"Sensei, a word." Miguel snapped, dragging his sensei away from the three Cobra Kai senseis. Once they were out of earshot, Miguel slapped Johnny across the face.

"Ow! What the hell?!" Johnny snapped.

"Are you insane?!" Miguel exclaimed. "How can you even consider going back to Cobra Kai after everything they've done?!"

"Miguel, you heard him! He's going to pay for all of your hospital bills. That's more important than any stupid karate rivalry!" Johnny stated. Miguel shook his head furiously.

"NO! Sensei, please! If you go through with it and rejoin Cobra Kai, I'd feel guilty for the rest of my life that I'd be throwing the whole Valley under the bus. Every time Cobra Kai would beat someone up or start a fight, I'd feel responsible. We have a chance to end this war once and for all. We need to take it. I don't care if it means me waiting tables for the next decade!"

Johnny reluctantly nodded and walked back to Kreese. Kreese smiled at them.

"So? Are you coming home?" Kreese asked. Johnny scowled at him.

"Go. To. Hell." Johnny spat back. Kreese sighed and nodded.

"Fine. So be it. You'd better get your students ready for the All-Valley, because I can assure you, ours will be.."

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That evening, Sam texted Miguel and asked him to meet her at the canyon. He did so. He knew that they were long overdue to have a conversation about their relationship. They hadn't spoken at all in the 3 days Miguel had been gone from Miyagi-Do as Sam had hoped that her dad would be able to convince them to come back, but now that Miguel was confirmed to no longer be a Miyagi-Do student, she had called him up and asked to talk.

Miguel sat down on a bench next to Sam, and she looked up and smiled when she saw him.

"Hey." She murmured, wincing as she saw the massive bruise on the side of Miguel's face that her dad had given him. "How's your eye?"

"Fine." Miguel grunted. "I'll live."

"Miguel, I'm really sorry for what my dad did. He was completely out of line." Sam said. Miguel chuckled.

"Yeah, so he said earlier today." Miguel murmured. "Tell him again that there are seriously no hard feelings. I completely understand why he did what he did, and that had nothing to do with why I'm quitting Miyagi-Do."

"Why exactly are you quitting? You were great at Miyagi-Do tactics!" Sam exclaimed. Miguel shrugged.

"Same reason why you're not joining Eagle-Fang, I'm guessing: a combination of two things. I prefer Johnny's ethos and style of karate to your dad's, no disrespect intended. And also I'm not about to abandon my sensei after everything he's done for me. You know better than anyone how strong family bonds are."

Sam slowly nodded. She completely understood why Miguel was sticking with Eagle-Fang, and although she didn't like it, she respected it.

"Look, I didn't come here to talk about karate." Miguel said. "I came to talk about us. What happens now? It's not like we can go with our relationship as normal after everything that's happened."

Sam nodded.

"Yeah, I know. But I also know that both of us are a lot more mature than we were last year, so we don't necessarily have to become enemies just because our senseis are." She stated. Miguel nodded.

"I agree. But like no offense, but you aren't the most popular person to my family right now, and I can only assume that it's exactly the same with me and yours. So it's not like we can be near each other's places."

"Yeah, so we're only together when we're out. We can tell our parents we broke up, and we can continue our relationship in secret. Sound good?" Sam asked. Miguel looked at her and then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"No, no I can't do that, Sam." He murmured. Her eyes widened and her heart starting to sink.

"You… you can't?" She stammered. Miguel shook his head.

"Look, Sam, you are the most amazing woman I have ever met. I have no idea what I possibly did in my life to deserve you. It's like I won the lottery. But between the psychological aftermath of everything that happened with my dad, working almost every afternoon waiting tables to pay my hospital bills, training and fighting Cobra Kai in the All-Valley, now having another rival dojo in Miyagi-Do, and also a secret relationship with you… it's just too much, Sam." Miguel murmured, tears in his eyes. Sam looked at him and realised that his life was A LOT more complicated than she thought.

"Are you… are you breaking up with me?" Sam whispered, tears starting to run down her own cheeks. Miguel put his head in his hands.

"Do you have a better idea?" He asked. "Please. I'm open to anything."

Sam thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"How about this? We press _pause_ on our relationship until after the relationship." Sam stated. Miguel looked at her, confused.

"Huh?" He asked.

"Basically, we break up and act like any old friends until after the All-Valley. Then, afterwards, we can talk about restarting the relationship." Sam said. Miguel looked at her, his jaw dropped.

"You'd be open to that?" Miguel asked, remembering only too well how Sam had started dating Robby less than a couple of weeks after breaking up with him last year.

"Yeah, definitely." Sam said. "Miguel, I love you so, so much. I'm the one who doesn't deserve someone as amazing as you. And if all I have to do is wait 3 months to be with the person I love most in the world again, I can definitely wait. Oh wait, one rule! You can't hook up with other girls."

Miguel chuckled and nodded.

"Deal." He said, and the two of them kissed for the last time, before hitting pause on their relationship…

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That night, Johnny and Daniel sat in their respective houses across town, thinking deeply. They both knew that with Kreese, Silver and Barnes all teaching Cobra Kai together, Johnny and Daniel didn't stand a chance at winning the All-Valley alone. They both needed part-time assistant senseis, but they knew that the backup could no longer be each other.

Johnny pulled out his phone and dialled a number. It was the number of one of his closest friends, someone he trusted fully and someone he knew could help him, as he was an even better fighter than Johnny back in his day. The man answered moments later.

"Hey, Johnny, what's up?" The man asked.

"Hey, Jimmy." Johnny said. "Look, I have a massive favor to ask you…"

Meanwhile, across town, Daniel was scrolling through the contacts on his phone, searching for the surnames beginning with 'P'. Eventually, he found the contact he was looking for, and he called the number. It was the number of someone he hadn't seen since Mr. Miyagi's 5 year death anniversary in 2016. The person on the other end of the line answered pretty quickly too.

"Hello?" The woman said.

"Hey, Julie." Daniel said. "Long time. Look, I'm calling because I could really use your help in something…"


	24. Chapter 24

**So this chapter is about Eagle-Fang, next chapter is about Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them.**

**Also, for those who are saying that because Sam didn't walk away from Miyagi-Do, she's not that upset, trust me SHE IS. You guys are going to see in the next chapter that is about Miyagi-Do about Sam's relationship with her family**

**Also, this isn't the end of Sam x Miguel for all of their fans. Big things to come**

"WAKE UP!" Johnny bellowed, causing Miguel to leap out of his bed in shock. "BIG DAY TODAY!

"Get out. I've got a thing." Miguel mumbled into his pillow.

"WHAT THING?!" Johnny yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Ears." Miguel groaned, putting his hands over his ears. Johnny rolled his eyes and dragged Miguel out of bed. Johnny was extremely excited about that day. There was a LOT to do. It was his first training session with Jimmy as his co-sensei. Jimmy had agreed because his wife was out of town, and his kids were both at friends' houses so he had the time. Jimmy had also agreed to help train them 2-3 times a week, if he had the time. Although he was a family man now, he was also one of the best Cobras in history.

After a quick shower, Miguel met Johnny at the entrance of the compound, and the two of them drove to Hawk's house to pick him up. When Hawk joined them, Johnny then drove for a good half an hour, before parking on a large field on the outskirts of town.

"Um… Sensei? What, did you drive us out here to kill us or something?" Miguel asked.

"Thought about it. But then again, it wasn't my idea to come out here." He said.

"It wasn't? Then whose was it?" Hawk asked. Suddenly, a car pulled up next to them, and a middle aged man stepped out. Johnny grinned and bro-hugged the man.

"What's up, Johnny?" The man said.

"Great to see you, Jimmy." Johnny said. "Diaz, Hawk, meet your new sensei, one of the best students Cobra Kai has ever had: Sensei Jimmy. Jimmy, this is Miguel and Hawk." He said, pointing to the two of them. Jimmy looked at Miguel and raised an eyebrow.

"You're Miguel?" He asked, confused. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, why?"

"You're less nerdy than Johnny described." Jimmy remarked. Hawk snorted in laughter, and Miguel looked at Johnny and raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously, Sensei?" Miguel asked. Johnny shrugged.

"What? I didn't say anything untrue!" Johnny exclaimed. "Anyways, Sensei Jimmy is the one who told us to meet here, so why are we here?"

"Well, a buddy of mine in the Marine Corps told me about this place about a 5 minute walk away." Jimmy said, as they began walking. 5 minutes later, they arrived at their destination: a replica obstacle course of the ones that U.S Marines were forced to do during training.

Miguel and Hawk raised an eyebrow as they saw the obstacle course. It looked extremely difficult - after all, it was something the fittest of adults are put through.

The first obstacle was easy: it was a low log that they just had to hurdle over. However, after that, it got a lot harder. The second obstacle was a high bar, situated at 8 feet. They had to do a swinging pull up where they kicked their legs up and over the bar from the backside, flipping their body over the bar and flinging off it like a ninja. Some of the other obstacles included an incline bar where they had to pull themselves up and slide down the horizontal steel bar; a 10 foot wall jump; a 20 foot rope climb where they had to shimmy themselves up a rope; as well as many other intense obstacles.

"Okay, guys, listen up!" Jimmy barked. "The two of you are going to race through this course as fast as you can."

"Yo, this looks pretty hard." Miguel remarked as he did a pull up on one of the obstacles and already felt his arms begin to ache.

"Well, only way to improve is to keep doing the drill until you get better." Jimmy said. "Whoever gets to the end first wins."

Hawk and Miguel looked at each other, competitively. This race was suddenly extremely important to Hawk in particular. Now that the dojo had split so Johnny was just training Miguel and Hawk, there was even more focus on Miguel. Hawk understood it to a certain extent - whenever Miguel and him sparred, Miguel normally came out on top - but it was getting a bit too much for Hawk's liking. It was like Johnny had dismissed him as even a competitor for the All-Valley crown. Sure Miguel was a great fighter, but he was too! He needed to win this obstacle course to prove to Johnny, and himself, that he shouldn't be counted out!

"You guys stretch and warm up for a couple of minutes, then we'll start." Jimmy said, before walking over to Johnny.

"Hey, you do realise Miguel's going to win this, right? He's the All-Valley champ." Johnny stated. Jimmy raised an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't be so sure. That Hawk kid looks pretty good too." He stated. Johnny nodded.

"He is, but he can't beat the champ." Johnny said, confidently.

"Oh, yeah? Wanna bet?" Jimmy asked. "50 bucks says Hawk wins."

"You're on." Johnny replied, shaking Jimmy's hand.

"You do realise we can hear you guys betting on us, right?" Miguel asked. Jimmy and Johnny looked up and realised that Hawk and Miguel were only a few feet away. They shrugged.

"Meh. More incentive for you to win." Johnny stated. "All right? You guys ready?"

"Yup." Hawk stated, clearing his mind and preparing to go full super-soldier mode on this obstacle course.

"Yup." Miguel said, hopping from foot to foot and readying himself for the race.

"Okay! 3… 2… 1… GO!"

**To see the obstacle course, click:**

**watch?v=B7TVdkHObVg**

The obstacle course started extremely evenly. Miguel and Hawk were well-matched for pace in the first few obstacles, Miguel pulling slightly ahead on the obstacles that required more strength, but Hawk coming right back on the obstacles that required more speed and acrobatics. They reached the ten foot wall at the halfway point pretty much exactly the same time, and they forced themselves to pick up the pace, despite their aching limbs.

They went through the second half of the course pretty quickly, and were again neck and neck when they reached the rope climb. Johnny and Jimmy's eyes were wide at the speed and expertise their students were showing.

"Jeez. They're a hell of a lot better than we were back then." Jimmy remarked. Johnny chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, they are." He replied. Miguel and Hawk started scaling the rope, and despite Miguel's best efforts, Hawk made it to the top about a second before him. Hawk slid back down in triumph, and Johnny and Jimmy clapped for their students.

"Great work, Hawk!" Johnny exclaimed, impressed. Hawk smiled to himself. He had put himself back on Johnny's map at the perfect time.

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However, despite Miguel and Hawk's impressive performance at the obstacle course, over the course of the next week, Johnny was less than pleased with Miguel. Now that him and Sam were broken up, Miguel was spending every free moment he had training, to an unhealthy extent. He wasn't eating enough, and he was pushing his body past the limits every single day, for several hours a day. His student needed to rest, but he wouldn't listen to him.

"Hey, man." Johnny said one night, as Miguel walked inside after three hours straight of cardio training. "Why don't you finish training for tonight and we crack open a sixer of Coors and watch Iron Eagle?"

Miguel shook his head.

"Can't. Gotta train." Miguel grunted. Johnny sighed. What Miguel was doing… it wasn't healthy, and it was going to come back to bite him at some point. It certainly wasn't benefiting him.

"Okay, how about we go into the city and go to a ball game. Dodgers play tonight, right?" Johnny suggested, trying desperately to pull Miguel away from training. He had also noticed some other worrying signs about Miguel: Miguel was looking pretty skinny, his skin was slightly yellow, and his eyes sunken. Johnny empathised with his students. He knew exactly what Miguel was going through. After his big fight with Alli, before Daniel Larusso came to town and things went toxic, Johnny had thrown all of his frustration about their fight/break up into fighting, and he didn't want his student to make the same mistake.

Miguel shook his head.

"Sorry. Wish I could. I need to train though. I need to be in tip-top form if I want to beat Ro…"

Miguel didn't finish his sentence though. Before he could, he passed out from exhaustion and collapsed. Using his quick reflexes, Johnny caught him and carried him into the house…

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Miguel awoke a couple of moments later on his living room couch, to see Carmen and Johnny standing over him, concerned expressions on their faces. Miguel felt extremely dizzy all of a sudden, and he felt like he was about to pass out again. As soon as Miguel's eyes opened, Johnny thrusted a bottle of orange juice and a protein bar into Miguel's hand.

"Here. Take these. Your blood sugar is low. That's why you feel like shit." Johnny stated. Miguel gratefully accepted the food, and he chugged the orange juice. Almost instantaneously, he started to feel better, and he sat up on the sofa.

"Thanks, Sensei." Miguel murmured, and he started to get up, but he was quickly shoved back down by Carmen and Johnny.

"Miggy, we need to talk." Carmen said. "What you're doing to yourself, it's not healthy."

"Yeah, kid. Training harder after a breakup is natural, but you're pushing it to an unhealthy extent."

"No, I'm not." Miguel snapped. Johnny raised an eyebrow.

"Uh huh, because normal people just pass out on the street, right?" Johnny remarked. "Look, shut up, sit down, and fucking listen!"

Miguel was taken aback by his sensei yelling. He was used to Johnny shouting, but this time, he was yelling in like a parent kind of way.

"I don't know what's going on with you after your break up with your girlfriend, and honestly, I don't care! What I care about is you pushing yourself past exhaustion, which is unhealthy, counter-productive, and just plain stupid! You can't keep doing this to yourself or you stand no chance against Robby! Hell, right now, you hardly stand a chance against Bert or Nate! _I'm_ in charge of your training, and you need to trust that I know exactly how far to push you to beat Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do! Do you trust me?"

Miguel eventually sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, fine. I'm sorry." Miguel murmured, before getting up and walking into his room. When he was gone, Carmen turned to Johnny and smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"You yelled at him." Carmen remarked. "You got very firm with him. Very confident. Cool. Like a dad would. It was nice."

Johnny nodded and shrugged.

"You're very sexy when you yell Johnny." Carmen said.

"Ughhhhh! God! Well, I'm gonna go puke until I'm 40." Miguel, who had just exited his room on his way to the bathroom, stated. Carmen and Johnny chuckled at Miguel's dramaticness and smiled at each other. It was like they were co-parents of Miguel. A family.

However, despite Johnny's talk with Miguel, Miguel didn't improve by much. He wasn't passing out from exhaustion anymore, but he was still training WAY too much. As Johnny watched him leave to train for several hours one afternoon, Johnny put his head in his hands. What was he going to do?


	25. Chapter 25

Although Miguel wasn't doing well after the breakup, Sam wasn't doing well at all either. She didn't throw herself into training like he did though. She couldn't do that, because that would mean spending more time with her dad. Sam was fuming at him. She knew that their break up wasn't entirely his fault, he had certainly thrown a wrench in it. Who was he to beat up Miguel?! That made him no different to people like Kreese and Barnes, who he considered his enemies, and the villains of their storyline! Instead, Sam spent most of her time locked in her room, crying. She had basically pulled out of training - doing the bare minimum - and wasn't socialising with any of her friends.

Daniel and Amanda were worried about her. Whenever someone so much as even mentioned Miguel, Sam started to cry, and she wasn't eating much weather.

After hearing their daughter cry herself to sleep for the 8th night in a row, Daniel and Amanda sat down together in the living room.

"Okay, we have to do something!" Daniel exclaimed. "We can't just sit around and watch her do this to herself!"

Amanda sighed.

"Look, this is an extremely tough time for her. She really loved Miguel. Trust me, heartbreak is rough for teenage girls. The most we can do is just be there for her. She'll get over him, it just takes time."

"How could Miguel do this to her? What an asshole!" Daniel exclaimed. Amanda rolled her eyes.

"Right, because this is all his fault, right?" Amanda remarked, sarcastically. "NO! Daniel! Don't you get it? Don't you understand why your daughter is so upset?! This is your doing, you and Johnny! Your stupid rivalry has a splash damage effect, and they were just the unlucky people who were caught in the crossfire!"

"Yeah, you're right. This is my fault. I need to fix this." Daniel said, standing up but quickly getting pulled back down by Amanda.

"Daniel, stop! You're not doing anything! The only thing that heals a broken heart is time! And besides, I doubt your daughter, who is already furious about you interfering with her relationship, will appreciate you going over and confronting her ex!"

Daniel nodded and put his head in his hands. He knew his wife was right, but that didn't take away the frustration he felt. He wanted to help his daughter, anything to get him back in her good graces, but there was literally nothing he could do.

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A couple of days later, Amanda was working in their house study late at night, when she heard footsteps walking towards her. She looked up from her laptop to see Sam standing in the doorway, tears streaked across her face.

"Mom." Sam whispered, tears rolling down her face. Amanda's eyes widened, and she rushed over to her daughter, wrapping her arms around her and comforting her.

"Shh. Shh. Sweetie, it's gonna be okay." Amanda whispered into Sam's ear soothingly.

"Why is this so hard?" Sam sobbed, hiccuping as she tried to talk. "I'm supposed to be a strong, independent woman. Why is getting over a guy so hard?"

"Because that's what heartbreak is. When you love someone and you have to let them go, it hurts, and that doesn't mean you're not an independent woman. It just means that you really cared about him. It's going to take time, but you will get over him, and you will be stronger when you come out the other side."

Sam nodded but her tears didn't subside any time soon. She kept crying and her mom held her as she cried. Daniel briefly walked past the office, and his heart broke when he saw his daughter in so much pain. This was all his fault, and he had to fix it!

Daniel walked outside of his house and dialled a number he NEVER thought he'd be dialling. The person on the other end answered moments later.

"Larusso? The hell do you want?" Johnny snapped, his voice troubled. Daniel took a deep breath, putting his history with the man aside.

"Johnny, we need to talk. About our kids." Daniel said. He could almost hear Johnny nod.

"Let me guess. Sam not doing so well?" Johnny asked. Daniel sighed.

"Yeah. She has distanced herself from everyone and everything. She doesn't even train more than once a week anymore. I'm guessing Miguel's doing the same thing."

Johnny chuckled.

"Nah, the opposite. He's thrown himself into training, to the extent that his body is degenerating. He's even passed out a few time because of low blood sugar."

Daniel winced and sucked in air.

"Look, you know I'm like the last person who would be saying this, but I think for their own good…"

"We need to get them back together." Johnny finished. Daniel nodded.

"Yeah..."

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Miguel was deep at work on a science project for school when he suddenly heard a knock on the front door. Miguel walked over and answered it to see Johnny standing in the doorway. Miguel looked at him, confused.

"Hey, sensei. What, did you lose your key or something?" Miguel asked.

"Hi, Miguel." Someone else said, walking up and standing next to Johnny. Miguel's eyes widened. It was Daniel. Instinctively, his hands balled into fists, preparing to defend himself in a fight, but Johnny quickly stood between them.

"Easy, Miguel. He's not here to fight. He's… we're here to talk to you. Together." Johnny stated. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Wow. Guess you don't have to live that long to see everything, huh?" Miguel remarked. "So what's up? We're not going back to Miyagi-Do, are we?!"

"Oh, no! God no!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Thank God." Miguel let out a sigh of relief, and Daniel glared at both of them, but wasn't about to confront them. "Anyways, come in. What can I do for you guys?" He asked, leading them into the house and into the living room. Once they were all seated on the sofa, Johnny and Daniel looked at each other and Johnny took a deep breath.

"Listen, kid. We need to talk about you and Sam." Johnny stated. "Neither one of you is doing too well right now. You two need each other in your lives."

"Johnny's right." Daniel continued. "For what it's worth, I'm really, truly sorry for everything my rivalry with Johnny has done to push the two of you apart. Truth is, you're an amazing guy, Miguel. You're nothing but kind, sweet and respectful to my daughter, and you clearly care about my daughter a lot, she loves you a lot too. It would be a shame for you two to throw all of that away because of Johnny and my differences."

"Yeah, Larusso's right. So, what do you say, Miguel?" Johnny asked. "It's in both of your best interests to get back together. So, will you?"

Miguel looked at both of them and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and pausing for several moments.

"No." Miguel eventually replied. Johnny and Daniel's jaws dropped, and they looked at each other in disbelief.

"No? But Miguel…" Johnny started.

"Shut up." Miguel growled, cutting Johnny off extremely harshly and causing Daniel and Johnny to look even more shocked at Miguel's outburst. "You don't get it. Neither of you do. I didn't ask to end things with Sam because I didn't want to be with her anymore, nor did I end things because of your dumbass rivalry. As far as I'm concerned, your rivalry to me is nothing but two man-children trying to relive their glory days by making their next generation fight their battles for them!"

"Well, that's a little harsh!" Johnny exclaimed. Miguel rolled his eyes.

"Is it? I really don't give a fuck!" He snapped. "Look, Mr. Larusso, could you please go? Sensei and I need to talk."

Daniel nodded, noticing how agitated Miguel suddenly was, and he left the house. When he was gone, Johnny turned back to Miguel, his facial expression concerned.

"Miguel, what's going on?" He asked. Miguel took a deep breath.

"Do you have any idea the kind of stress I'm under?" Miguel asked. "NO! Of course you don't! You're too busy with your all-consuming karate rivalry to notice anything else! I just came out of one of the most traumatic experiences of my life with my dad, and I'm still dealing with the psychological impacts of that. I need to talk about it, but the only person I possibly trust enough to talk about it with is too busy trying to one-up his high school rival! And another thing, do you remember why I started karate? It was when I was getting bullied, and I wanted to learn just enough to defend myself from Kyler and his bullies. I've done that, I've learned enough, so I could quit tomorrow. I'm CHOOSING to stay, and for what? To feel the weight of the entire soul of the Valley on my shoulders? I see the way you treat me, and how Larusso treated me when I was training with him. You both treat me like I'm your only hope of winning the All-Valley! You don't think that takes a toll on my mind?"

"Miguel, it can't be news to you that you're the best fighter we got." Johnny stated.

"BUT I DON'T WANT TO BE!" Miguel yelled, tears starting to roll down his cheeks. "I didn't want any of this! I'm training for several hours a day, and on top of that, trying to keep up straight A's because I don't have the money to go to fucking college unless I get a scholarship, and college is the only thing that's going to prevent me from becoming a plumber like every other Latino in this city! And on top of all of that, I have to work a fucking job every other afternoon/evening to earn money to pay hospital bills that I incurred from last time this stupid karate war got out of hand, a job I might lose because I keep showing up late BECAUSE OF FUCKING TRAINING! And if all of that wasn't enough, having to fight Cobra Kai, having to fight Robby… you don't think that triggers mental issues for me?! That boy, YOUR SON, almost killed me before! I want out... of all of this. The only thing I actually wanted, my relationship with Sam, has had to be sacrificed because of all of the other shit I'm going through. I physically can't keep up a relationship with her! God knows I want to, but I CAN'T!"

After Miguel's revelations, Johnny was rendered speechless. He felt awful. Miguel was right. He had been so caught up in his rivalry with Daniel, that he hadn't realised everything that was going on with Miguel.

"It's too much, Sensei. It's just too much." Miguel whispered, tears rolling faster down his face. "And you have the audacity to think that I don't want to be with Sam anymore, one of the only people who makes me forget about all of the shit that I'm going through?! You know what, good night, Sensei. Good talk." He snapped, before storming towards his room and slamming the door shut behind him.

Once he was gone, Johnny looked down and a couple of tears rolled his cheeks. It was all his fault. He had ruined that cheerful, innocent boy he met a year ago's life. If only he had just quit teaching Miguel that day after the cafeteria fight when he knew Miguel could hold his own. Instead, he had to drag Miguel into the karate world that had ruined 30 years of his own life from age 18-50.

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"Hey, kid! Get up!" Johnny whispered, standing over Miguel the next morning as he slept. Miguel groaned as he opened his eyes. The sun wasn't even out yet, and it was pitch-black outside.

"Seriously, Sensei? After I just told you about how all of the extra training sessions are too much last night, you pull this shit?!"

"Shut up. This isn't training. Now throw on a hoodie and get up!"

Miguel reluctantly did so, throwing on a jacket, and following Johnny out of the house and into his car, still in his pajama bottoms. The two drove for nearly half an hour, before Johnny parked at the top of an extremely high hill. Miguel stepped out of the car and couldn't help but gasp. The view was incredible! From their vantage point, they were looking out on the whole city in front of them **(It's the same spot Johnny went in the pilot when he got fired)**.

Miguel was standing at the edge of the cliff, looking out on his surroundings, and Johnny walked over to him, a bag and a small drinks cooler in his hands.

"What's this? Some kind of training?" Miguel asked. Johnny shook his head.

"Not training. Just time to catch up." Johnny said, taking out a tin-foil wrapped sandwich from the plastic bag and a Coors Light from the drinks cooler. He handed them to Miguel.

"Here. Best breakfast sandwich in the city, I guarantee you." Johnny stated. Miguel unwrapped the sandwich and saw a delectable looking sandwich containing egg, cheese, bacon and a special sauce. It was indeed sublime, and Miguel groaned in ecstasy when he ate it.

"Damn it. That is good." Miguel remarked. Johnny chuckled.

"Damn right, it is." He replied. The two sat together in silent, staring out at the gorgeous sunrise, and taking in the calmness and tranquility that was around them.

However, eventually, Johnny broke the silence with the question that had been burning on his mind for the past 12 hours.

"Hey, Miguel?" Johnny asked. Miguel turned to him and nodded.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Last night, you said you were dealing with the psychological aftermath of the crap that happened with your dad. What exactly does that mean? Are you okay?"

Miguel sighed and looked down.

"It's just that everything with him ended so fast, you know? And I don't know, for some reason, I feel like things aren't over."

"What do you mean?" Johnny asked.

"I know I might sound crazy and paranoid, I probably am, but there's a small part of me that feels like he's going to try and get payback on me somehow. Crazy, right?"

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Meanwhile, across town, Miguel's father's cell door buzzed open and a guard walked inside.

"Diaz! You got a visitor!" He called. Miguel's father's eyes furrowed in confusion. He hadn't had a visitor in the two months he was in prison for, nor did he expect it to be honest. Who was going to come see him?

"I do? Who?" He asked.

"I don't know, and I don't give a crap. Now get your ass up and let's go before I tell him to leave!" The guard demanded. He nodded and followed the guard out of the cell and into the visiting center. An elderly, white man was sitting at the table, and smiled at him as he sat down.

"Mr. Diaz?" The man asked. Miguel's dad nodded.

"Yeah, who are you?" He asked. The man smiled and held out a hand for him to shake.

"I am retired Army Captain John Kreese. I know that you are having trouble with your son and a man named Johnny Lawrence, and I know that you want revenge for what they did to you. I think I can help you, and I think it is in our best interests to work together…"

**So I know that things are looking kinda bleak for Miguel/Sam fans, but trust me, it's not over. As Johnny would say, the fight's not over until we say it's over**


	26. Chapter 26

"Everybody sit down and listen up!" Kreese barked at his Cobra Kai recruits. They all immediately sat cross-legged on the floor of the dojo, looking up at him for further instructions. The way Kreese instructed the Cobras made him feel like he was back in the Army, and was leading his platoon.

Barnes and Silver stood at the side of the room, and Kreese gestured to Barnes, who walked over to him and stood opposite him at the center of the mat.

"So far, since Sensei Lawrence left, you have all gotten way physically and mentally stronger. You have all finally gotten Johnny's 'Show Mercy' shit out of your systems. However, what I haven't focused on enough is teaching you new techniques and strikes. And for that… I don't apologise! You weren't ready yet! But now, you are. I am going to teach you the 5 strikes that are most deadly to your opponent. The first strike… the elbow to the heart!"

Robby sat and watched as Kreese demonstrated 3 extremely lethal strikes, and he thought to himself for the millionth time: What the hell was he doing here? Trying to get back at Miguel? Trying to get back at Johnny? Was that seriously worth being taught by such a terrifying man? But Robby didn't dare say anything. He knew that Cobra Kai wouldn't just let him leave peacefully - they would give him physical hell. It was fine though. The All-Valley was in two months, and if he won that, maybe Cobra Kai would let him leave in peace.

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The next morning, Miyagi-Do stood at the dojo, all of them carrying backpacks and duffel bags. Daniel had surprised them all with a surprise, one-night camping trip in the forest. It was supposed to be a Miyagi-Do team bonding/training exercise for them, a desperately needed one as despite Julie's addition to the team, team morale was still pretty low without Hawk, Miguel and Johnny. The three of them had brought life and spirit to the team, and Demitri, Sam and the rest of the team couldn't fill that hole that they left behind. In addition, a massive problem within the team was Sam and Daniel's relationship. Although a combination of Amanda, Julie and time had helped heal the worst of her depression, she was still extremely upset at her father. He had meddled in her relationship multiple times, not to mention the fact that he had PUNCHED Miguel and driven them out of the group.

"All right! Let's get going! Everyone follow my car, okay?" Daniel said. There were about 8 of them, so they were driving up to the campsite by the lake in 3 cars. "Sam? Wanna ride with me?" Daniel asked, turning to his daughter hopefully. Sam looked at him and scowled.

"No, I'm gonna ride with Julie." Sam said, walking away from him. Julie shot Daniel an apologetic look, before walking with Sam over to her car. Sam and Julie had built a pretty strong bond over the past two weeks. Julie was the badass female sensei that Sam had always dreamed of training with. In addition, she seemed to be a lot more balanced and Miyagi-like than Daniel. She had been living in L.A for 5 years, and wasn't dating anyone but was extremely happy that way.

"All right." Daniel sighed. "Let's go! See you guys in 2 hours…"

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"Sensei, what the hell is going on?" Miguel asked as him, Johnny, Hawk and Jimmy parked in the woods. Jimmy's wife and kids were visiting his wife's mom for the weekend so Johnny and Jimmy decided to seize that opportunity and do a one night Eagle-Fang bootcamp out in the woods. Jimmy hadn't arrived yet though. He would be coming a bit later.

"We're camping." Johnny replied. Miguel looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Um… what? We don't have any supplies! What are we going to drink?"

"There's a lake about a mile away, remember." Johnny stated.

"And what are we going to eat?" Hawk asked, just as confused as Miguel.

"We hunt, gather and fish." He replied.

"And where are we going to sleep?" Miguel asked. Johnny laughed and spread his arms out.

"We'll sleep right here. Build our own fire. We're doing things like the cavemen did it. You know how much I love the cavemen!"

"Oh jeez. Fuck me." Miguel muttered under his breath. "All right, I'm going to go collect firewood or something…"

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Daniel and his convoy parked their car at the campsite an hour and a half later, and when they all got out of their cars, they immediately heard the sound of boisterous music coming from around a quarter of a mile away. The group all looked at each other, confused. Nobody knew that they were going to be there, and their camping spot wasn't exactly the most popular location.

"Did you tell anyone we were here?" Julie asked Daniel. Daniel shook his head.

"Not a soul." Daniel replied. At this point, Sam and Demitri also walked over to them, confused.

"What's going on?" Demitri asked. "Who are those people?"

"I don't know." Daniel replied.

"Should we go investigate? I mean, that could be Cobra Kai." Sam said. Daniel nodded and the four of them walked into the woods, towards the loud music…

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"Sensei, could you please turn off the music?" Miguel begged. Him and Hawk were walking around the area, collecting firewood, as Johnny sat on the forest ground and sipped his beer. Miguel and Hawk were sweating - it was extremely straining work. They knew that this was definitely not a vacation; it was training.

"No!" Johnny shouted back, blasting his 80s rock music even louder from the speaker Miguel had gotten him for his birthday a month earlier. Miguel groaned, regretting that he didn't buy his sensei headphones instead.

"Yo, where's Jimmy at?" Hawk asked. He loved having Jimmy as a sensei. Him and Jimmy had developed a great bond. While Johnny focussed a lot of his attention on Miguel, Jimmy spent most of his time on Hawk. It made Hawk feel like less of an understudy to Miguel, and more of a champion. Jimmy knew exactly how Hawk felt. Back in high school, Jimmy hadn't done much more than play second fiddle to Johnny, despite the fact that he was an as good, if not better, fighter.

"He's coming. He's just bringing our next training exercise." Johnny replied. Miguel and Hawk looked at each other, confused and slightly worried. They had gone through a LOT of Johnny's 'training exercises' in the recent past, and none of them were too pleasant.

"I'm not even gonna ask." Miguel murmured quietly to Hawk. Hawk chuckled and the two continued dumping their firewood in the center of their campfire location.

A couple of minutes later, Miguel heard the snap of a branch around 200 meters away. His hair instinctively stood up on its end, like a cat sensing danger. He quickly ran over to Johnny and whispered something in his ear. Johnny's eyes widened in alarm and he nodded…

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As Daniel, Julie, Sam and Demitri crept through the woods, the previously boisterous music suddenly cut off, leaving the woods eerily silent. The birds weren't singing, the light breeze completely dropped. Eventually, the four Miyagi-Dos made it to a clearing, where there was a pile of logs in the center. Daniel walked around, and his eyes widened when he spotted something… an empty Coors Banquet bottle.

"What's going on? Is it Cobra Kai?" Sam asked. Daniel slowly shook his head and his head whipped around, searching for the campers.

"No. It's not Cobra Kai." Daniel murmured in alarm. "Guys, let's get out of here!"

The four of them turned around, ready to run as they could hear the panic in Daniel's expression, but they didn't move a single step. As they turned around, standing right in front of them and blocking their escape route were Johnny, Miguel and Hawk. Johnny was holding a branch aloft like a baseball bat, and both Miguel and Hawk also looked ready for a fight.

"The hell are you doing here?" Daniel snapped.

"I'm training my students. You got a problem with that, Larusso?" Johnny growled, beginning to square up to Daniel. Daniel, who wasn't about to back away from a fight with Johnny, was easily goaded and he started to square up to Johnny. Instinctively, Miguel and Sam stood in front of their senseis, briefly making eye contact with each other as they held their senseis back from a fight. Thankfully, Johnny and Daniel both took a couple of steps back from each other and settled for simply staring daggers at each other. At that moment, Johnny finally noticed the other sensei standing next to Daniel, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Who's the chick?" Johnny asked, curiously. Julie was instantly offended by Johnny's remark, and Daniel had to hold her back to stop her from charging at Johnny. Johnny chuckled as he did exactly what he intended: getting a rise out of all of them.

"Julie, stop. That's just how he talks." Daniel murmured to her. She scowled at Johnny, but Daniel smirked at him. "Johnny, meet my new partner, Sensei Pierce."

Johnny's grin faded slightly as he heard that Daniel had a new sensei. However, moments later, another car pulled up a couple of meters away, and Johnny grinned. Jimmy had arrived. It was 4 pm so his wife and kids were gone, and he was ready to get to work.

"Ah, there he is. Larusso, I want you to meet _my_ new partner. I believe you've already met though." Johnny remarked. At that moment, Jimmy got out of his car and walked over to the group. When Daniel saw him, his face paled, despite the fact that Jimmy looked nothing but cheerful. Daniel didn't know about Jimmy being a family man now. All he saw was his old childhood bully.

"Hey, Daniel! How's it going?" Jimmy asked. Daniel's face was ghostly white.

"J… J… Jimmy? What are you doing here?" Daniel stammered, still in shock. Jimmy shrugged.

"Well, Johnny called me a while ago and told me that he needed help taking down Kreese. Given everything that old bastard put us through back in the day, I happily offered to help."

Daniel eventually got over his shock, and his shock turned to anger.

"Okay, you guys need to get the hell out of here now." Daniel snapped. Johnny and Jimmy scowled at him.

"Why? We were here first." Johnny spat back.

"Yeah, but this was Mr. Miyagi's spot. This is Miyagi-Do's location." Daniel snapped.

"I'm sorry but I believe this is a public forest." Jimmy stated. "Do you own this land? No! So we have just as much of a right to be here than you. So why don't we just compromise and we both stay here, but stay the hell away from each other?"

"Works for me." Julie said, grateful for another less foggy-judgement adult around. Daniel and Johnny eventually nodded and turned back to their respective dojos.

"Okay. Well, this is our campsite. Get the hell away." Johnny growled. Daniel nodded and his Miyagi-Dos walked back towards theirs. Two rival dojos in the same woods for a weekend. This was going to be fun…

**So I know that things are looking kinda bleak for Miguel/Sam fans, but trust me, it's not over. As Johnny would say, the fight's not over until we say it's over**


	27. Chapter 27

**So I have gotten A LOT of messages across various different platforms (Wattpad, FFN, AO3) about Miguel's dad. They are all dissing my other story and begging me not to make the story unrealistic and to keep Miguel's dad a minor character. From the very beginning, when I was drawing out the plot, I wanted to keep Miguel's dad as a minor character. He will NOT be breaking out of jail, as many are asking about. I'm not going to disclose what kind of role he'll be playing in the story, but I can tell you that his gang is NOT involved. So for those of you who sent the 39 messages in the 24 hours that chapter was out for, CALM YOUR SHIT and stop spamming my inbox. It's honestly exhausting and disheartening.**

**If you have any other feedback for me other than trashing my other story and demanding about Miguel's dad, I am open to here it, but please if it is about Miguel's dad, shut the fuck up and don't send the message.**

**As for my harsh tone, in the wise words of my hero Conor McGregor "I want to take the chance to apologise… TO ABSOLUTELY NOBODY!" I'm sorry, but I write these stories for ME. If y'all have a problem with them, just don't read them. It takes WAY less effort for you to just close your tab, than it does for me to read all of the hate reviews and private messages I'm getting.**

**Anyways, with that being said, let's start the chapter…**

For a couple of hours, Johnny and Daniel's dojos stayed completely separate. They were on opposite sides of the forest and they could barely hear each other from their respective camps. Daniel was fuming. He couldn't believe that Johnny was here, and he had roped in another one of Daniel's old bullies! As if one wasn't enough!

Daniel didn't say much that afternoon. He was sitting at the edge of the lake when he heard someone walk up beside him and sit down beside him. He looked up to see Julie, and she smiled at him sympathetically.

"Hey." She said gently. Daniel nodded at her.

"Hey." Daniel murmured.

"What exactly happened there? I've never seen you that fazed by anyone before." She stated. Daniel sighed and shook his head.

"I don't know, Julie. Those guys… they always bring out the worst in me." Daniel said. Julie nodded.

"Well, you know what Mr Miyagi would say if he was here. You need balance in your life." Julie said. Daniel looked down.

"I know, but it's kind of hard to do that when I've fucked up my entire life. My daughter, my dojo." Daniel said, putting his head in his hands. "I just feel like everything I do, when I train my students purely so they become soldiers to fight in this fucked up war we've started, it's like I'm spitting on Mr. Miyagi's grave. Karate is for defense only. That was Mr. Miaygi's one rule, and I'm breaking that by teaching these students how to win fights, rather than defend themselves. I started this whole karate rivalry thing in the valley. If I had just let Johnny teach his students in peace…"

"Then we'd have a Valley-full of Johnny's and based on the brief conversation I had with him, that's not a good thing." Julie said. "The Valley needs you to help keep balance, and you two need each other to keep balance with Kreese. And as for your relationship with your daughter, I've been talking to her a lot. She's a great kid. She'll come around eventually. It just takes time."

Daniel nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. I just want to fix things but I can't." Daniel murmured.

"Just show her you're there for her no matter what. Oh, and don't assault her boyfriends!"

Daniel blushed and Julie laughed.

"Yeah. Sam told me about that. What the hell were you thinking?!" She laughed. Daniel shook his head.

"I don't know! I was angry! He hit my baby girl!" Daniel exclaimed.

"And your 'baby girl' is more than capable of handling herself in a fight." Julie stated. "Besides, from what I've heard, there are some people who need to be beat up more than a 16 year old kid, namely Kreese, Barnes and Silver!"

Daniel nodded.

"Yeah. I guess so. We've just got to get through the All-Valley and now that Johnny has split from our dojo, in all honesty, the only hope of a non-Cobra Kai victor is Sam. Johnny's ruining Miguel and Hawk's chances in the tournament with his dumb training."

Julie shrugged.

"I mean, not necessarily. Say what you will about the man but he did win the All-Valley twice himself, and he brought one student to the semis and one student to the All-Valley crown last year. He knows what he's doing, even if his training methods are slightly unorthodox…"

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BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

A massive truck beeped as it reverse parked next to Johnny's campsite. For a minute, Miguel thought it was the cement truck from their old training, but this truck was different. It was, for starters, a lot bigger. It looked like some kind of animal enclosure, but it was opaque so they couldn't see into it. Miguel was nervous though. Johnny had been hinting at some kind of intense training coming up that evening, and this could well be it.

Even Daniel and his campsite had heard the beeping, and it peaked their curiosity. Daniel, Sam, Demitri and Julie all walked over to the campsite, and saw the truck park and a man step out of the driver's seat.

"What are we doing, Sensei?" Miguel asked, not noticing the Miyagi-Dos, who were all hiding behind the trees 50 meters away.

"Today's lesson… grappling and wrestling!" Johnny announced. Miguel and Hawk stood up and faced Jimmy and Johnny.

"Um… okay? I thought you can't wrestle in the All-Valley." Miguel stated. Johnny nodded.

"You can't, but that doesn't mean that it's not useful." Jimmy continued. "You can use grappling techniques to take someone down in the All-Valley as long as you finish with a strike, and wrestling is also an excellent way to improve strength, and win in street fights."

"I'll be honest with you guys." Johnny sighed. "I don't know what's going to happen after the All-Valley. Even if we win, who's to say that Kreese is actually going to leave town? And even if he does, what happens if Barnes and Silver stay? Cobra Kai might not be over after the tournament, and if they aren't, you guys are going to be targets number 1. Therefore, as the person who got you into this foxhole, it's my responsibility to teach you how to fight your way out. And that means training with any method necessary."

Miguel groaned. He knew what that meant. Johnny had something really dumb in mind for training exercise, and he had a feeling that it had something to do with the massive truck and the driver, who was standing a couple of feet away.

"Sensei, what's the drill?" Miguel muttered. Johnny gestured to the driver, who walked over to his truck and pulled open the back storage comportant. The man then grabbed a leash, and helped a small grizzly bear out of the truck.

"What the actual fuck?" Hawk declared. "Sensei, what are we doing?"

"You're wrestling him." Johnny replied, pointing to the bear. Miguel and Hawk's jaws dropped. Although the mini grizzly was far from full-sized, it still was bigger than Miguel, and it looked to be extremely difficult to be able to wrestle.

At that moment, the Miyagi-Dos, who were watching from the trees, stepped out into the open and stormed over to Johnny.

"What the hell are you doing, Johnny?!" Daniel exclaimed. Johnny immediately scowled when he saw the group.

"Get out of here, Larusso. All of you." Johnny snapped. Daniel and Julie had walked up to Johnny and Jimmy, ready to stop whatever madness Johnny had concocted, and Sam and Demitri watched on, terrified and confused.

"You can't possibly think that having your kids wrestle a bear is a good idea! You're gonna get them killed!" Julie declared. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Listen, new chick! I know you haven't been here that long so you don't know how things work." Johnny snapped, causing Julie to ball her fists into tight balls, desperately holding herself back from socking Johnny in the face. "Having my students do extreme stunts… it's what I do! But I know that there's no way they're getting seriously injured. I always step in before that happens, don't I, Miguel?"

Miguel nodded.

"Yeah. Crazy as his drills may be, he never lets us get too hurt doing them. And they make us stronger, so…"

Daniel sighed and shook his head. He suddenly realised what he needed to do. He needed to get Miguel and Hawk to come back to Miyagi-Do. It would solve all of their problems.

"Look, Miguel, Johnny's methods might make you physically strong, but is that really what you want?" Daniel asked. "Johnny's crazy. You must know that! You've been lucky so far, but some day, he's gonna push you too far and you're gonna get seriously hurt. Come back to Miyagi-Do. Let me and Sensei Pierce train your body and mind. You too, Hawk! We could have both of you back! It would be so wonderful!"

"SERIOUSLY?! You're trying to poach my students?!" Johnny exclaimed, starting to prowl towards Daniel, but Miguel held him back.

"Sensei, chill. I got this." Miguel murmured quietly to him, before turning to Daniel. "Mr. Larusso, I will leave Eagle-Fang and I will join you right here, right now…"

"Miguel…" Johnny growled warningly. Miguel rolled his eyes and continued.

"IF you can honestly tell me you would do this… back when you were in high school, would you ever leave Mr. Miyagi and join another dojo? I'll join you right now if you can tell me honestly that you would have honestly made that move."

Daniel was taken aback by this question, and he stammered for an honest.

"That's different, Miguel. Mr. Miyagi was like a father to me." Daniel stated. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"And Johnny's what? A drunk uncle to me? NO! He's my Mr. Miyagi! Don't you get that? _He_ was right there next to me when I broke my back and was in a coma! _He_ was there for me when I had to relearn how to walk! _He_ was there, risking his life to get my dad arrested! He has proved time and time again that he would follow me through the gates of hell, and I hope he knows I'd do the exact same thing for him."

Johnny, who was standing a few steps behind Miguel, couldn't help but smile faintly as he heard his student saying these things about him. He had failed at a lot of things in his life, but the one thing he had done good was helping to raise that kid in the past 2 years. Miguel took a deep breath and continued.

"I don't hate any of you and your style of karate. Remember when Kreese would say 'there is no good or bad'?"

"You're seriously quoting that son of a bitch?" Daniel asked, confused. Miguel shrugged.

"To some extent, that son of a bitch is right. In this fight, there are only THREE bad people: Kreese, Barnes and Silver. None of the Cobra Kai students are inherently bad people. Miyagi-Do isn't evil. Eagle-Fang isn't evil. They're just… all different. Who's to say whose dojo is the best? So the best we can do is STOP trying to poach each other and leave each other alone until the All-Valley. Can you guys please do that?"

Daniel and Johnny eventually nodded. Miguel let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God. Now, if you guys would please leave… Hawk and I have a bear to wrestle."

Daniel and his Miyagi-Dos eventually slunk back into the woods and Johnny shot Miguel a grateful look, before returning to his stoic, determined demeanor. The man with the leashed bear walked over to them. The man was one of Jimmy's close friends who worked for Ventura Zoo, and Jimmy had convinced them to let them 'borrow' the bear for a few hours.

"Okay, Diaz, you're up first." Johnny said. "You talked a lot, but now you need to back it up."

"What do I do, Sensei?"

"It's not rocket science, Miguel. You grapple with the bear. Aim of the game is to pin him to the ground for three seconds."

"Easier said than done." Miguel muttered, staring at the massive bear nervously. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Don't be such a drama queen. The bear is going to be leashed the whole time so if it gets too far, we'll pull him off."

"And if he slashes me with his claws?" Miguel asked. Johnny shrugged.

"That probably won't happen." He replied.

"Probably?" Hawk asked, feeling sympathetic for his friend but nervous as he knew that he would be up next.

"Come on, guys! We don't have all day!" The zookeeper called. Miguel took a deep breath and nodded, before walking towards the bear and preparing to wrestle…

"All right! 3… 2… 1… Go!" Johnny instructed. Miguel locked arms with the bear and began to try and take the bear down. It was A LOT harder than he thought. He was nearly flipped over immediately by the bear. That's when Miguel realised why this lesson was so important: it was Johnny's version of balance training. Balance and agility would be vital in beating bigger fighters like Shawn in the All-Valley, and now that they weren't training with Miyagi-Do, Johnny needed to help them improve their balance himself.

Daniel, who was still watching them from the trees, also realised what this training was all about, and his eyes widened. Despite how crazy it was, it was actually a good idea.

Soon, the bear had Miguel completely overpowered, and had pinned him to the ground and was lying on top of him. The bear must have weighed at least 250-300 pounds, so Miguel was feeling a lot of pressure on his chest.

"Sensei, get him off!" Miguel coughed and spluttered as the bear pressed his two massive paws harder onto Miguel's chest. Daniel was about to run out from his hiding spot in the trees and save Miguel as Johnny and Jimmy didn't seem too bothered, but he hesitated as he heard Johnny's voice.

"No! Listen up, Diaz! This is what you're going to do!" Johnny instructed calmly. "This is the technique I want you to use when you're being overpowered and pinned by someone bigger or stronger than you. First thing you gotta do is break his grip. Sneak your hands inside his and push them outwards, and as you do that, pull him towards you!"

Miguel did that, causing the bear to fall and place his two paws on either side of Miguel instead, but due to Miguel pulling his arms, the bear was forced to be practically completely horizontal on top of him, causing his balance to shift and become less stable.

"Good! Now, wrap your legs around his hips and squeeze to lock him from moving!" Johnny instructed. Miguel did so, isolating the bear so he was flat on the mat.

"Did that, what next?!" Miguel called, the pressure on him starting to decrease slightly.

"Now, grab his left wrist and trap it on the ground, and then shoot your other hand towards the opposite side of his head, and push your upper body upwards!"

Miguel did so, and his upper body lifted half off the ground as his left arm extended so that it was next to the bear's left ear. He couldn't get up yet though as the bear's right arm was blocking him.

"Now, that left arm that you just shot up… wrap it around his arm that's pinning you. As you do this, roll to the side, pinching his back with your legs, connect your wrists, and then from there, STOP!"

Miguel did exactly that and to his astonishment, that move ended with him trapping the bear in a Figure Four Arm Submission, his legs wrapped around the bear's midsection and preventing even something as big as him to move. Obviously, Miguel wasn't about to actually break the bear's arm, so at Johnny's command, the zookeeper pulled the bear off of him.

Miguel slowly got to his feet, flabbergasted. Johnny had never shown any interest in grappling before, and that was the first technique he had taught him.

"Sensei, what was that?" Hawk asked, just as perplexed and intrigued as Miguel. Johnny smirked.

"That is the Kimura Move." Johnny stated. "It's a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu move that I learned in the Air Force. It could save you in a fight with someone bigger than you. Hawk, your turn…"

As Daniel watched the group silently from the trees, his jaw was gaping in shock. Johnny was truly taking 'training' to another level. What kind of kids stood by someone like that? Maybe Miguel and Hawk were better off not in Miyagi-Do. But Daniel knew one thing. Although Miguel was managing to keep Eagle-Fang away from Miyagi-Do for now, if they ever had Miyagi-Do in their crosshairs, they would be serious threats. Daniel needed to teach his students how to defend themselves…


	28. Chapter 28

After the bear wrestling, the bear was taken back to the zoo and the Eagle-Fangs prepared for the night. Unlike Miyagi-Do who actually brought supplies, Johnny didn't bring anything so the Eagle-Fangs were forced to do everything themselves. It was 4:30 in the afternoon, so they had about 2 and a half hours to gather food and prepare for the night. They had already collected firewood before their wrestling class so they had warmth for the night, so the next most important thing was food.

Jimmy and Hawk made a makeshift fishing rod out of string, a small piece of bread that Johnny had brought, and a sharp splinter of wood as a hook, and together, they managed to catch 8 moderately large fish in 3 hours, definitely more than enough for all 4 of them. They knew that Daniel definitely could have done it a lot faster, but Johnny wasn't about to ask him for help.

As they did that, Miguel gathered up various herbs and vegetables from the forest that they could use for the meal, and he washed them thoroughly. He had gone camping A LOT in Ecuador and he was the only one with a lot of camping experience, so he set to work on that. Meanwhile, Johnny continued collecting firewood and did everything else they needed to do to set up for the night.

After they had all done what they needed to do, they reconvened at the campsite. The sun was starting to set, and the wind had started to pick up slightly so they needed to light the fire. In addition, they needed to grill the fish and they couldn't do that without fire. Jimmy turned to Johnny.

"Gimme the matches." He told Johnny. Johnny looked at him, confused.

"Huh?"

"The matches. Give them to me. We need to light this fire." Jimmy stated. Johnny's eyes widened when he realised…

Jimmy groaned.

"Seriously, Johnny? You had 1 job!" Jimmy exclaimed. "I convinced a buddy to practically break a law by bringing a bear here, and you couldn't even remember a fucking match box?!"

"I'm sorry! I forgot, okay?!" Johnny responded. "But we need fire, so what do we do?"

"We do what you would want us to do." Miguel stated. "We do it like the cavemen did it. We start the fire by hand."

Johnny nodded and grabbed two sticks and started rubbing them together, trying desperately to start a fire like he had seen in the movies, but he had no idea what he was doing. After five minutes of struggling, Johnny sighed and threw the sticks to the ground.

"Screw it! This is useless!" He snapped in frustration. Miguel couldn't help but start laughing, and Johnny glared at him. "What?"

"I'm sorry. It's just… you are truly awful at science, aren't you?" Miguel remarked. "You're never going to light the fire by just rubbing the sticks together. The only heat you'll get is from your muscles over-exerting themselves."

"Well, you got a better idea, Bear Grylls?" Johnny snapped. Miguel nodded and walked over to the pile of firewood they had, taking out one extremely narrow and one extremely thick plank of wood. He then placed the thick plank of wood flat on the ground and balanced the narrow piece of wood on its head right on top of the other plank. He then turned to Johnny.

"Yo, sensei, give me your spare key to our house." Miguel said. Johnny looked at him, confused.

"Why?" Johnny asked.

"Because I don't want you ever coming near my house ever again." Miguel remarked sarcastically. "NO! I need it to carve out a hole in this piece of wood and none of us have a knife so the key will have to do. I'll give you another one when we get home."

Johnny nodded and handed him the key. Miguel took it and started digging a thin hole into the large plank of wood in the exact width of the narrow piece of wood. After he had done that, he stuck the narrow piece of wood inside the large piece to make a T-shape, and then he grasped the top of the narrow piece and started rubbing his hands together and causing extreme amounts of friction inside the hole. Soon, the friction had turned to steam, and that steam had become fire. Miguel quickly tossed the flaming piece of wood into their large campfire before the flames became too large, and soon, they had a roaring campfire and a lot more warmth. The Eagle-Fangs all let out sighs of relief, and they all patted Miguel on the back in appreciation.

By the time the sun completely set, Johnny had expertly grilled the fish, and Miguel had seasoned it with his gathered herbs, and the group feasted on their hard-earned dinner. It actually smelled delicious, and tasted even better than they thought.

After dinner, the group finally settled for the night, each of them tying car tarps between trees to shield themselves from wind, and using the massive central fire they had to stay warm.

Meanwhile, across the lake from them, the Miyagi-Dos weren't having nearly as much success as the Eagles were. Despite the fact that they had all brought supplies, their supplies were extremely limited - beef jerky and ramen noodles were the extent of their food, and they could smell the feast that the Eagle-Fangs had made.

In addition, even though they had sleeping bags, they were still colder than the Eagle-Fangs as their fire was not nearly as large. None of the Miyagi-Dos were nearly as comfortable as Johnny's dojo were in the woods, and they weren't having too much fun.

Late at night, Sam huddled deep into her sleeping bag for warmth, but when she woke up a couple of hours later in the middle of the night, she was still cold. For about the thousandth time since their breakup, she missed huddling close with Miguel for warmth. She slowly got out of her sleeping bag and walked towards her backpack to grab her coat, but she groaned when she realised that it wasn't there. She must have dropped it somewhere in the woods. Looking around and seeing that the whole group was fast asleep, she settled for going into the woods alone to look for it, ignoring the fact that there could be any kind of wildlife there. Not the smartest move.

Meanwhile, in the Eagle-Fang base camp, Jimmy and Hawk had fallen asleep, but Johnny and Miguel were still up. They were on opposite sides of the fire, but they could see each other's eyes open so Miguel stood up and walked over to Johnny. As Miguel sat down next to him, Johnny took out a 6 pack of Coors and offered him one. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? You forgot matches but you remembered beer?" He laughed. Johnny shrugged.

"Priorities." He replied. Miguel chuckled and put his head in his hands.

"I'll pass. I don't want to be extremely thirsty tomorrow morning and have to walk all the way down to the lake to get water a bunch of times."

Johnny nodded.

"Suit yourself." He replied.

He then looked at Miguel and sighed as he saw the troubled look on his student's face. That look had become so common on Miguel's face. Johnny kind of missed the dopey, overly-happy expression that used to be plastered on his student's face.

"What's up, kid?" He asked. Miguel looked at him, confused.

"Huh?"

"What's bothering you?" Johnny asked. "The downside to having a lady's mouth is that your feminine pout is easy to read."

Miguel rolled his eyes at his sensei's cheap insult and sighed.

"Sorry. It's just kinda weird seeing Sam again after what happened." Miguel said. Johnny nodded, understanding immediately.

"I'm guessing it's the first time you guys have since each other since you broke up?" Johnny said. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah. I mean we used to see each other every day, and then the dojo split and our break up made everything end so fast. It's not like I want to get back together - I mean I do, but I just don't have the time and energy to maintain a healthy relationship. It's just weird, that's all."

"I mean, have you considered talking to her? I know this is gonna make me sound like a woman, but it could help you get over her. You know, get closure." Johnny said. Miguel shrugged.

"Just sounds like another unnecessary, awkward conversation with my ex to me." Miguel stated. Johnny shook his head.

"Trust me. It actually helps. I had the same view as you, but having that conversation lets you close that chapter in your life. It worked for me."

"With my mom? Are you guys okay?" Miguel asked. Johnny nodded.

"Yeah, we're great. Your mom is absolutely amazing. I'm not talking about her. I'm talking about Ali." Johnny replied. Miguel looked at him, confused.

"Ali? I thought she never wrote you back on facebook." Miguel said. That was what Johnny had told him at least. Johnny shook his head.

"Nah. She actually responded on the week of the Cobra Kai raid on the Larusso house." Johnny said. "We met up. You know that Christmas party I went to in Encino? I went with her."

"So this was before you and my mom started dating?" Miguel asked.

"After we hooked up, before we started dating." Johnny replied. "Anyways, catching up with Ali finally made me able to move on with that part of my life, and officially ask your mom out. It was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Trust me, if what you're going through is anything like what I was, that conversation is one of the best things you could do. And you know how much I hate to talk, so if even I'm saying that…"

Miguel nodded.

"Yeah. I guess I'll talk to her tomorrow morning." Miguel said. "Thanks, sensei."

"Anytime, kid." Johnny replied. Miguel then turned towards their campfire and realised that the fire was starting to die out due to lack of wood. He stood up.

"I'm gonna go grab some firewood." Miguel said. Johnny stood up too and nodded.

"Yeah, I'll help. Meet back here in half an hour?"

Miguel nodded.

"Got it." He replied, before walking into the woods.

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DAMN IT!

Sam was officially lost. She was in the middle of the pitch-black woods, extremely far from the Miyagi-Do campsite, with no idea where he was. She frantically looked around for anything that she recognised, but with no success. She was starting to panic now. The sounds of wildlife around her started to increase. Her head constantly whipped around, looking for bears or any predator that might be after her, as she felt her panic level rising. She forced herself not to have a panic attack as she knew that that would make getting back 100 times harder, but she could tell she was on the brink of having one.

Suddenly, she heard it. A twig snap extremely near to her. Sam spun around to face the noise, and she saw a large, black furry shape. The creature hadn't noticed her yet, but it was slowly coming closer, and Sam wasn't about to let it attack her. She charged at it, kicking it as hard as she could, causing it to fall to the ground, ready to run as she assumed it was a wild animal. However, the animal didn't chase her. It groaned in pain and Sam looked at it for the first time. Her panic level diminished immediately when she realised that the 'creature' she had just kicked was Miguel. He looked a lot larger than he normally did due to all of the coats and sweatshirts he was wearing, and her seeing 'fur' was just her mind playing tricks on her.

Sam quickly helped Miguel to his feet, blushing furiously.

"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry, Miguel!" She cried.

"Guess I deserved it." Miguel remarked.

"No! No! I thought you were like a bear or something!" Sam exclaimed. Miguel raised an eyebrow and looked down.

"This some way of telling me I gained weight?" Miguel joked, trying to lessen the immediate awkwardness that had filled the air. Sam couldn't help but laugh at his joke.

"Where am I? Why are you close to our camp?" Sam asked. Miguel looked at her, confused.

"Your camp? You're way closer to ours. We're like a 100 yards that way." Miguel pointed behind him. "Your camp is like 500 yards west."

Sam nodded.

"Thanks. Well… good night." Sam said, starting to walk away. Migeul took a deep breath.

"Hey, Sam?" He called after her, causing her to turn around and face him. "Can we talk? About… you know."

Sam nodded and walked back over to him, the two of them sitting next to each other on the forest floor, their backs resting against the trees. Sam knew that she needed this conversation just as much as he did if she wanted to move on. They looked at each other. Neither one of them looked too great, but they both looked infinitely better than they did right after the break up.

"So… how are you doing?" Miguel asked.

"Well, I'm not gonna lie. This hasn't been the easiest month of my life. You?" She asked. Miguel chuckled and looked down.

"I'm also feeling pretty shitty." Miguel replied. "Look, Sam, I owe you an apology. The way I ended things so quickly… you didn't deserve that."

"No, I didn't!" Sam snapped. "After everything we've been through together. We got through all of those ambushes from Cobra Kai; all of the crap that happened with your dad; all of the panic attacks and PTSD issues I was going through because we got through them together. And then you just end things in less than a minute?"

"I know. I'm really sorry. But it wasn't you…"

"Miguel, I swear to God if you say 'It's not you, it's me' I'm going to bash your head against this tree!" Sam warned. Miguel chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm serious though. You're absolutely amazing. I've never met anyone like you in my entire life. Trust me, if things were even a little bit calmer in my life, there's no way in hell I'd break up with you. You were one of the best parts of my life, Sam. You seriously think I wanted to break up? I'd have to be the dumbest person in the world to actually want that."

Sam couldn't help but smile faintly. Damn it, Miguel knew how to talk. She wanted so badly to be mad at him, make him feel the pain that she was feeling, but that's when she realised… the pain Miguel was feeling was even worse than the one she was going through. Although it was hard for her to face the decision Miguel had made, it must have been a lot harder for him to make that decision to begin with.

"Hey, look, I know there's no reason you ever have to agree with this, but would you ever consider us being friends?" Miguel asked, hesitantly. "You were my best friend in the whole world. We trusted each other completely. Although we're not dating anymore, it would be a shame to ruin that. So… friends?"

Sam looked at him for several moments and then nodded. She knew he was absolutely right. She missed having him in her life. Even if they weren't dating, she definitely wanted him around. She smiled at him.

"Friends." She agreed. Miguel smiled widely and the two hugged.

"I don't know if I've said it enough, but you're really awesome, Sam." Miguel stated. Sam giggled.

"You say it a lot. Not that I'm complaining!" She responded. Miguel laughed.

"Right. Can I walk you back to your camp? I know you're awful at directions and I'm fairly sure you're going to get lost."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Sam exclaimed, indignantly.

"Sam, you're like the one person I know who can get lost WITH Google Maps on." Miguel stated. Sam blushed and rolled her eyes. The two of them stood up and walked through the woods together, catching up on everything that was happening with each other's dojos. Soon, they made it to the outskirts of the Miyagi-Do campsite, and Sam turned to say goodbye to Miguel.

"Hey, as your friend, can I ask you to do something?" MIguel asked. Sam nodded.

"Yeah, sure. What?" Sam asked. Miguel took a deep breath.

"Take it easy on your dad." Miguel stated. Sam sighed and frowned. Miguel wasn't off put though. "Hear me out! He really cares about you, Sam. He only wants what's best for you."

"It's just… he's so involved in my life." Sam murmured. Miguel chuckled.

"Trust me, if I had a dad like yours, I'd want him to be that involved in my life. Look at what I was given. A dad in the California State Penitentiary. Nobody there to teach me how to be a man for 14 years. Until I met Sensei Lawrence. So if you want my opinion, cut him some slack. Tell him to maybe back off a little, but don't hold this grudge against him. He really cares about you, Sam, maybe too much so. And trust me, as someone with a really shitty dad, that's like the best problem you could possibly have."

Sam nodded. She knew Miguel was right. In less than a minute, he had completely changed her perspective. She smiled at him.

"Thanks, Miguel. I'm really glad we're friends again." Sam said. Miguel smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, me too…"


	29. Chapter 29

**Okay. Quick author's note before I start the chapter. I'm really sorry, I've written a lot of these recently but I gotta write one more.**

**Person on fanfiction net whose username is gtCGO17 (you know exactly who you are), this is for you…**

**First, you wrote 4 anonymous insult comments that I deleted. Then, when you realised, you decide to write a public one that I can't delete. Why don't you just stop reading mate? You are clearly not enjoying it. I'm not judging you. Just close the fucking tab and stop dissing. Imma leave your public reviews up there, but I stand by the fact that I took down 4 other of your reviews.**

**I get it, you hate your life. You're a virgin living in your mom's basement and you have nothing better to do than piss all over everyone around you. I honestly feel for you. But I just want to warn you. One day, you're gonna piss off the wrong person and you're gonna get your ass kicked. It's easy to be a dickless pussy and diss people online. Just make sure you don't do that in real life, as you can't hide behind your laptop then.**

**Why don't you write your own story? I would love to read one of your stories and be as critical of it as you are of mine. I'd love to be proved wrong. BUT SHOW ME. Show me that you're the next JK Rowling.**

The rest of the weekend flew by for both dojos. Before they knew it, it was Monday, the beginning of their final month of sophomore year. It was May 6th, and all of their final exams were on, but they still had summative projects for a couple of subjects. Obviously, all of Miguel's friends had passed the year, and none of them would be held back. Even his most badass friend - Hawk - finished the year on the honor roll, the 'Eli' in him shining through.

Miguel definitely needed summer vacation. It had been an extremely long year for him, starting with him breaking his back, and ending with the dojo split. He deserved a break to kick his feet up and relax, but he knew that wouldn't happen. Johnny had already told Miguel that he was going on a strict diet and exercise regimen, as well as extremely intense training, to prepare him for the All-Valley. The All-Valley was very soon. It was crunch time.

Miguel's car was in the shop, so Johnny dropped Miguel off at school that morning, before driving back home. When he walked into his place, Carmen had prepared them a large breakfast. Miguel's yaya was at church that morning, so they had the place to themselves. Johnny kissed her and the two of them sat down at the table.

"Thanks for dropping Miguel at school." Carmen said. Johnny nodded.

"Yeah, no problem. It was my pleasure. Small things like these… they make me feel like a dad, you know?"

Carmen smiled and nodded. She could tell how visibly happy Johnny was becoming as Miguel leaned on him more and more as a father figure. Johnny had been given a second-chance at fatherhood after everything that happened with Robby.

"Miggy really loves you, you know? It's like he finally has a full, happy, normal, textbook family. That's always been his dream." Carmen stated.

"Him and me both." Johnny laughed. "Two years ago, I never imagined I'd be where I am today. Part of me still can't believe it. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up the next day and it's all going to be gone."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere. Ever." She said.

"Neither am I." Johnny replied. Although he hadn't proposed, Johnny and Carmen pretty much knew that they were soulmates, and would probably be together for the rest of their lives. The two of them smiled at each other for several moments in comfortable silence, before Carmen broke it.

"Hey, crazy idea." Carmen murmured. "This is just an idea. Feel no pressure to say yes to this. It's completely up to you."

"What is it?" Johnny asked, extremely curious now. Carmen took a deep breath.

"What if we went away for the weekend to Vegas and got eloped?" She suggested. Johnny's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open in shock.

"Eloped? As in married?" He asked. Carmen nodded.

"Yeah. We practically live together, we basically have a child together. Why don't we just make it official?"

"For real? I thought every girls' dream was for a big wedding. You know, big dress, big party, all that expensive crap." Johnny remarked. Carmen shrugged.

"Key word being 'expensive'." Carmen replied. "And besides, I was never into that whole thing. It's too… girly and superficial for me. I find any woman who spends thousands of dollars on a dress that she's going to wear once in her life to be really shallow."

"You and me both." Johnny laughed.

"So…?" Carmen asked nervously. Johnny thought for a moment and then finally nodded.

"I mean, I'd love to, if you want to." Johnny replied. Carmen broke out into a wide smile.

"Is that a yes?" She asked. Johnny nodded.

"Yeah. Let's get married…"

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That morning, Daniel, Amanda and Anthony were sitting in the dining room, eating breakfast. As Sam and her dad were fighting, Sam normally just grabbed a piece of fruit and raced out the door before they got a chance to say 2 words to each other.

However, this morning, Sam actually came downstairs and sat at the breakfast table, smiling at her astonished parents.

"Hey guys." She smiled. Daniel and Amanda looked at each other, confused, and then looked at their daughter.

"Hey, Sam." Daniel said, cautiously. "What's going on?"

"What? Am I not allowed to get breakfast or something?" Sam laughed.

"No, it's just… you're not mad at me anymore?" Daniel asked. Sam smiled at her dad and shook her head.

"No, I'm not." Sam replied. "I realised that you did everything you did with your heart in the right place. Yeah, you definitely went too far with hitting Miguel but if he's forgiven you, I guess I can too. You do have to promise to be less overbearing in the future though. I can handle myself out there in the world. I'm a Larusso."

Daniel grinned, relieved, and he hugged his daughter tightly.

"Deal." He replied. "Now… you fancy some Bananarama pancakes for breakfast?"

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"All right class! Listen up!" Mr. Smith, their music teacher, announced to them. Music was their first class of the day, and they were yet to be assigned their final summative project for the subject yet. Miguel, Hawk, Sam and Demitri were all in the same class, Hawk and Miguel sitting at the desk directly behind Sam and Demitri. The seats had been chosen while they were still in the same dojo and then when they split, it was too late to change seat. It was fine though. All of their projects thus far had been individual or duo projects, which Miguel and Hawk had managed to snake past at. Neither one of them were very good at music (Academics and Athletes were more their forte, not the Arts) but they hadn't been failing which was good.

The group all turned their attention to their teacher, who stood in front of the 20 person class.

"As you know, we'll be starting our end-of-year summative project today. The project is worth 75% of your final grade, so if you fail the project, you will most likely fail the course and will have to spend your entire summer in music summer school Basically, don't fail is all I'm saying, so listen carefully!"

Miguel and Hawk looked at each other, worried. They had both been averaging C- in music, so there was a fair chance that they could potentially fail the course if they failed this assignment. They had to all pick an instrument at the beginning of the year, and learn how to play it. Miguel had chosen the guitar; Hawk had chosen the piano. Neither of them were great at their respective instruments, to say the least, so they were nervous.

"What's the assignment?" Sam asked the teacher. Mr. Smith smiled.

"Well, Sam, the assignment is to cover a song that was written in the past 10 years." He replied. "Any song you want. Anything you heard on the radio while you were growing up. You need at least one singer, and at least one musical instrument accompanying you."

"We're supposed to do all of that?" Hawk exclaimed in disbelief. "I can barely play hot cross buns on the piano, let alone sing and play a whole song!"

Mr. Smith nodded.

"I know, Eli. That's why you're being split into groups of 4. Hopefully, between the four of you, you can put together an excellent performance."

Mr. Smith then started to split the class into random groups of 4 based on where in the class they were sitting, ending off with the final quartet.

"Miguel, Eli, Demitri and Sam. You four are group 5." He announced. All four of them internally groaned in annoyance. Of all the groups they could be in. The four of them looked at each other and felt the awkwardness immediately in the air. Although they had all agreed to be 'friends' with each other despite the dojo split, things were still undeniably awkward though. And now they had to do a massive project together. The next month was going to be fun…

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That evening, Johnny parked the car at a wedding chapel in Vegas. They had driven the four hour drive to Vegas, and had checked into a three star hotel for the night. They didn't need much as they were just staying there one night, and they weren't spending any time in the hotel anyway. Immediately after check in, they drove to a wedding chapel.

They got out of the car, presented their ID papers to the person at the front desk, and then were directed to the waiting room, where they waited for 30 minutes in relative silence. There were three other couples there: a pregnant couple, an extremely young couple, an extremely old couple, and them.

Finally, the door to the waiting room swung open and their names were called. They stood up and looked at each other, nervously. Carmen squeezed Johnny's hand.

"You ready?" Johnny asked. Carmen nodded.

"Yeah. I love you." She said.

"Love you too." He replied. "Let's do this…"

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That afternoon, Sam, Miguel, Demitri and Hawk were hanging out at Hawk's place, meant to be discussing their music project but getting bored immediately and playing a game of Scrabble instead.

"How am I supposed to do this with so many I's on my rack?" Sam complained, talking about letter 'I's on her scrabble tile rack of course.

"Sorry." Miguel joked, pretending to look at her chest, and then look down, interpreting 'I's as eyes, and rack as… you know.

Everyone held back a laugh at this sarcastic remark, but the tension in the air prevented the laugh from escaping any of their lips. Miguel sighed.

"Seriously, guys? What happened to us? Why is everyone being so awkward?" He asked.

"I know, right? Things have gotten so weird between us, huh?" Demitri remarked. "The four of us used to be like the Dream Team."

"Yeah, I blame Miguel and Sam!" Hawk stated. Miguel and Sam protested indignantly. "If they hadn't broken up, things wouldn't be weird!"

"Hey, it's not our fault!" Sam stated. "It's just that we've gone from all seeing each other all day, every day because of training, to like never seeing each other."

"Well, we need to fix that. You guys were like my closest friends. We can't become just any other strangers to each other." Miguel said. "Now, we should probably start working on that music project, huh?"

"Hey! Let's finish the game! You just want to quit because you're losing!" Demitri exclaimed. Miguel raised an eyebrow

"What are you talking about? I'm winning." Miguel stated.

"Well, yeah. Only because you already played your turn this round and we all haven't." Demitri replied. Miguel grinned and shushed Demitri.

"Shhhh Demitri. No one likes a sore loser." Miguel joked. Everyone did finally laugh at this, the tension and awkwardness in the room lessening by the minute, all of them feeling their old friendship starting to come back.

"All right. So what are we doing for this music project? Who's singing? One of us has to do it." Miguel asked.

"Not me!" Sam suddenly exclaimed.

"Not me!" Hawk quickly repeated.

"Not me!" Demitri said, right before Miguel realised what was going on.

"Not me!" Miguel said, too late. He groaned. "Damn it!"

"Atta boy, Beyonce!" Hawk laughed. Miguel put his head in his hands.

"Okay. Let's get to work…"

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The next evening, Carmen and Johnny pulled into the driveway, officially a married couple. Their mini vacation was over, and they had to go back to facing the world again.

"You haven't said much on the way back. How does it feel to be a married man?" Carmen asked Johnny.

"It feels great." Johnny replied. "So when do we tell people? I'm sure Miguel's gonna want to know."

Carmen took a deep breath.

"Look, Johnny, I need you do something for me, and trust me, okay?" Carmen said. Johnny nodded.

"Sure, what is it?" He asked.

"Don't tell Miguel for now." Carmen said. Johnny looked at her, confused.

"Huh?" He asked.

"Don't tell Miguel." She repeated. "There's a lot on his plate right now, with exams and the All-Valley and everything. He's under a lot of stress and I don't know how he'll react to this, and I don't want him to crumble because of it."

Johnny eventually nodded.

"Okay, we don't tell Miguel. For how long?"

"For now." Carmen said. "Can we reassess after the All-Valley tournament?"

Johnny nodded. He had a sinking feeling in his chest. He knew this was a bad idea, but he wasn't about to disagree with his new bride the day after their marriage.

"Okay, deal…"


	30. Chapter 30

**So sorry. Just one more quick author's note, addressed to my good friend,** **gtCGO17.**

**You talk about wrestling bears being unrealistic. Sure it is something that you wouldn't do every day, but it is NOT impossible, and you need things like these to liven up the story, and the skills Miguel learned may pay him well later in the story. I never said he was wrestling a huge-ass 700 pound grizzly bear. I made sure to state the fact that the bear was not much bigger than him.**

**If you want proof that wrestling bears works and helps train you into a better fighter, read about Khabib Nurmagomedov. He is one of the best UFC fighters of all time (his record is 29-0). He has often said that he spent a lot of times wrestling bears when he was growing up, and that was what made him into the BEAST grappler he is today.**

"All right. So what are we doing?" Miguel asked, as him, Sam, Demitri and Hawk sat in one of their school's music rooms the next day, ready to actually start their project. They didn't really have work for any other subject, and this was an extremely important summative as it would basically determine whether they would pass or fail the course, so they were all ready to work.

"I don't know." Hawk said, as him and Miguel tossed around a tennis ball. "Where do we even start this shit?"

"Okay, let's start with what instruments are we each gonna play?" Sam asked, taking charge as the stupid guys around her messed around. They all turned to her and paid attention.

"Um… I mean I guess I can play guitar okay. Really basic chords though." Miguel said.

"I'll play this." Hawk said, picking up maracas and shaking them. "Actually, Miguel, you should play this one. I'm sure you've used this before!"

"Maracas are originally Colombian, dumbass." Miguel replied. "We Ecuadorians are too smart for dumbass shit like that. And anyways, no way in hell you get to just shake maracas while I'm stuck singing AND playing guitar."

"What? Would you rather me do this?" Hawk asked, banging random, dissonant notes on the piano. They all winced at the horrendous sound.

"Miguel, just let him. It'll shut him up." Sam said. "I took piano lessons when I was younger…"

"Of course you did, princess." Hawk remarked, rolling his eyes. Sam glared at him.

"SO I'll help you out, Hawk, and I'll play the piano instead. You just shake your dumb maracas." She finished. Hawk nodded, gratefully.

"What should I do?" Demitri asked. "I don't know how to play any instrument. My 'instrument' that I chose at the beginning of the year was the tambourine."

"Just go with that." Sam said, throwing him a tambourine from the supply room. "We really don't have time to learn entirely new instruments. None of us are very good at music at all. If we get a D, we'd be so lucky."

"If we get a D, I'm throwing a party!" Hawk exclaimed.

"All right. So next thing we gotta sort out is what song we're singing. Anyone have any ideas?" Demitri asked.

"Please, NOTHING from the Lion King!" Miguel begged. "I had to stand on stage, motionless, for hours, dressed as a goddamn tree and I had to watch them sing the same stupid songs day after day! It's ironic the song's called Circle of Life when it made me want to kill myself!"

Everyone laughed and nodded.

"Okay. We hear you. Nothing from the Lion King." Sam laughed. "Let's everyone suggest a song, and if 3 people agree to it, we do it. If 2 people agree to it, we discuss it.

"How about some Ratt?" Hawk suggested. Sam and Demitri rolled their eyes.

"No! Definitely not!" Demitri asked.

"Hard no." Sam added. Hawk turned to Miguel.

"Miguel?" He asked. Miguel shook his head.

"Sorry, man. No from me too. Way too difficult to sing, and way too difficult to play on guitar. You guys gotta remember, you forced me to sing. I have probably the worst voice in the world."

"Well that's a lie." Sam stated. Everyone looked at her, confused.

"Huh?" Miguel asked.

"You're a pretty good singer, Miguel. I've heard you sing before in the shower." Sam said. Everyone turned to her, and Hawk smirked.

"I'm sorry, when was this?" Miguel asked, completely at a loss.

"Evidently, when you and your girlfriend were showering together." Hawk remarked cheekily in reply.

"What! NO! Hawk!" Sam exclaimed. "Miguel, it was like 4 months ago. I came to your house and you had just woken up and you were taking a shower. I could hear you from where I was sitting in your room."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense. I forgot. You two are boring." Hawk stated.

"Hey! We weren't boring!" Sam cried. "Not that it's any of your business, but Miguel and I got to thir…"

"Okay, Sam!" Miguel interjected, blushing furiously as Hawk cackled gleefully and Demitri laughed hysterically. "When you guys are done talking about Sam and my sex life! Could we please just decide on a song?"

"Okay, how about Castle on the Hill?" Demitri asked. Miguel shook his head.

"That's going to be an insanely difficult song to cover with our shite level of expertise. We need a bare-bones easy song." Sam said. Miguel was scrolling through his Spotify playlist and he stopped on a song that he really liked, but was extremely basic and easy.

"I've got one. It'll take not just me singing though. You guys are gonna have to back me up. But it'll allow Hawk to just play the maracas and Demtiri to play the tambourine." He said. Sam nodded.

"Well, what's the song…"

**One month later…**

"All right! Miguel! Sam! Eli! Demitri! Are you guys ready to perform for the class?" Mr. Smith asked them, exactly a month later. The month had flown by for all of them and it was finally the last day of the school year. They were about to graduate sophomore year and become juniors! The month was awesome. It was like they were all friends and teammates again. When they hung out, none of them really cared too much about actually practising for their performance. They just enjoyed each other's company. It had been so long since they had all been together, and they knew that they definitely wouldn't be spending much time together, at least until the All-Valley, so they made the most of the time they had.

The song they had decided to choose for their performance was absolutely perfect for them. They had gone with a song called Brother by NEEDTOBREATHE. It was the perfect song for them, as the song talked about how they could rely on each other during the tough times.

Miguel, Sam, Demitri and Hawk stood up and walked to the front of the music classroom, feeling the eyes of every one of their classmates on them as they took their places. They were all extremely nervous at this point. This performance would determine whether they'd have to spend their summer in summer school or not. They were the only group with no members that had musical experience.

"So, what are you performing for us?" Mr. Smith asked.

"Um… we're performing a song called Brother by NEEDTOBREATHE." Miguel replied. Mr. Smith nodded.

"All right. Take it away." The teacher replied. The group looked at each other, took a deep breath, and began playing what they had been rehearsing for the past month.

**To hear the following song, click:**

watch?v=VoqTLWF7ofI

" **Or search, "NEEDTOBREATHE Brother Live Acoustic"**

_Ramblers in the wilderness we can't find what we need_

_We get a little restless from the searching_

_Get a little worn down in between_

_Like a bull chasing the matador is the man left to his own schemes_

_Everybody needs someone beside em' shining like a lighthouse from the sea_

_Brother, let me be your shelter_

_Never leave you all alone_

_I can be the one you call_

_When you're low_

_Brother, let me be your fortress_

_When the night winds are driving on_

_Be the one to light the way_

_Bring you home_

_Face down in the desert now there's a cage locked around my heart_

_I found a way to drop the keys where my failures were_

_Now my hands can't reach that far_

_I ain't made for a rivalry I could never take the world alone_

_I know that in my weakness I am strong, but_

_It's your love that brings me home_

_Brother, let me be your shelter_

_Never leave you all alone_

_I can be the one you call_

_When you're low_

_Brother, let me be your fortress_

_When the night winds are driving on_

_Be the one to light the way_

_Bring you home_

_And when you call and need me near_

_Sayin' where'd you go?_

_Brother, I'm right here_

_And on those days when the sky begins to fall_

_You're the blood of my blood_

_We can get through it all_

_Brother, let me be your shelter_

_Never leave you all alone_

_I can be the one you call_

_When you're feelin' low_

_Brother, let me be your fortress_

_When the night winds are driving on_

_Be the one to light the way_

_Bring you home_

_Brother, let me be your shelter_

_Never leave you all alone_

_I can be the one you call_

_When you're low_

_Brother, let me be your fortress_

_When the night winds are driving on_

_Be the one to light the way_

_Bring you home_

_Be the one to light the way_

_Bring you home_

They had absolutely NAILED it! The class clapped as they retook their seats, and at the end of the class, Mr. Smith handed Miguel his final grade…

An A+! Miguel was delighted. He now officially had straight As across all subjects. Although it was only sophomore year, he needed to keep his grades perfect to get a college scholarship. Life was great for him right now, even if it was insanely busy. He was on top of his grades, his karate, and nothing could get him down. Of course, he had no idea about the secret that awaited him at home…

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The next month had flown by for everyone. Johnny and Carmen's marriage was still a complete secret, but it wouldn't stay that way forever. With every passing day, Johnny felt more and more guilty about keeping the secret from Miguel. Miguel had trusted him and opened him up to Johnny so many times. He trusted Johnny with everything he had, and by Johnny keeping this colossal bombshell from Miguel, it was like he was just showing Miguel that he didn't trust him back. Despite all of this, Johnny knew that Carmen had a point, even if he didn't agree with her. Miguel was under a lot of stress and pressure, and he had told Johnny that a couple of times. The last thing they wanted for Miguel was for him to react badly, and for it to mess with his head and cause his academics and karate levels to drop. However, they both knew that with every passing day they kept it a secret, the more upset Miguel would be as he inevitably found out.

Soon, Johnny couldn't take it anymore. He walked into Carmen's place one afternoon when Miguel was at school. Another drawback of not telling Miguel about their marriage was that Johnny couldn't formally move into their place yet. L

"Hey." Carmen smiled as her husband walked into the apartment. She immediately noticed the expression on Johnny's face and she knew what this was all about. "You want to tell him, don't you?"

Johnny nodded.

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I understand why you wanted to keep it secret, but I just feel like he deserves to know, and with every day we keep it secret, the less likely Miguel will be to forgive us. We need to tell him."

Carmen sighed and she eventually nodded. She knew that Johnny was right. It wasn't like Miguel was a kid anymore that gave them the right to protect him from this. He was 16, nearly legally an adult.

"Okay. We can tell him. But this is going to be tricky. We need him in the best state of mind possible if we don't want him to completely flip out."

Johnny nodded and smiled.

"I thought you'd say that. I have an idea…"


	31. Chapter 31

Miguel graduated from sophomore year, ecstatic. He spent that night hanging out with Hawk, Sam and Demitri, but he was woken up the next morning when Johnny barged into his room.

"Miguel! Miguel! Miguel!" He exclaimed, panting for breath as he ran in. Miguel's eyes snapped open when he heard his sensei, and he glared at Johnny.

"Seriously? I was trying to sleep!" Miguel grumbled. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"It's 1 in the afternoon! Get your ass up and pack an overnight bag! I have a surprise for you! We're going to Vegas! I got us tickets to UFC Fight Night, to the McGregor vs. Khabib fight!"

Miguel shot out of bed at this point, his eyes wide.

"What?!" Miguel exclaimed. "What's the occasion?"

"Well, I could lie and say that it's a research trip to learn new moves for the All-Valley, but it's just for fun! It's your summer break! You've been through a lot this year! Lord knows you need a break! So here's what I have planned. I got us a deluxe room at the Bellagio. We explore Vegas this afternoon. Steak dinner tonight. Tomorrow we spend the day in the casino, and then at night, we go to the fight. How's that sound?"

"That… that sounds awesome! Thank you, Sensei!" Miguel exclaimed, running around the room and throwing together a duffel bag with enough clothes for a 1 night trip. Half an hour later, he was showered, packed and ready to leave. The two quickly walked out of the house and got into Johnny's car, setting sail for Vegas…

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The drive to Vegas was about 4 hours long (of course, Johnny knew that already, having made the journey out a month ago), but it went by extremely quickly. Johnny and Miguel were talking passionately about the fight card they were about to see the next day. They were both massive fans of the UFC. They loved all of it - the trash talking, the passion, the fighting. It was their favourite sport to watch, and they watched every UFC event together.

Just as the sun was starting to set, they saw the infamous sign that read 'Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas', and Johnny rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Ahh Vegas. I haven't been here in years!" Johnny grinned. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I would have thought this would be exactly your scene. You know, fights, gambling, alcohol."

"Yeah, Vegas rules, but it's also really expensive." Johnny replied. Miguel nodded and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Yeah, how did you pay for this by the way? Tickets to the fight alone, let alone everything else, cost 500 bucks each. It's not like either of us are loaded."

Johnny grinned and nodded.

"I just had to call in an IOU with a friend who now works pretty high up at the Bellagio. He's giving us everything free of charge, but the fight, which we are getting pretty discounted."

Miguel chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, that makes more sense." He replied. Johnny laughed.

"Man I'm excited for this. I feel like we haven't seen each other outside of training for like two weeks!" Johnny remarked. Miguel's smile faded slightly, as if he was keeping something from Johnny, but as soon as it appeared, it disappeared before Johnny could see it.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Miguel remarked, before looking at the Google Maps app on his phone. "Turn right here."

Johnny shook his head.

"Nah, if we keep straight ahead, it'll get us to the Bellagio quicker." Johnny replied. Miguel shrugged and nodded, and Johnny kept straight. Moments later, they pulled up to the Bellagio. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Wow. That was fast." He remarked. "I thought you hadn't been here in years. How do you know your way around so well?"

Oh crap! Johnny forced himself to keep a straight face otherwise Miguel would know he was lying. He merely shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't know. I just remember. Spent a lot of time here in my 20s." Johnny replied. Miguel nodded. He believed that. He knew all about Johnny's old step-father's money and how Johnny used it to party his way through his 20s.

The two of them got out of the car at the valet, and they were quickly shown up to their room. When they walked in, Miguel gasped. This was BY FAR the most luxurious place he had ever been. There were chocolates on the freakin' pillows for crying out loud! Miguel had stayed in some rough places with his mom and yaya right after they fled Ecuador, and he never would have believed that he'd be staying in a deluxe room at one of the most famous hotel/casinos in Vegas. The room contained two queen sized beds, a gorgeous terrace overlooking the city, a fancy mini bar, and everything else a 5 star hotel contained. They didn't spend much time in the room though. They merely dropped their bags in their room, and then they went out to explore the city. They had 8 o clock reservations at one of the best steakhouses in Vegas (courtesy of Johnny's friend, of course), but they had about an hour or two to explore the city beforehand. Miguel was in disbelief. Although L.A was a big, famous city, it was NOTHING like Vegas. Vegas was just… unique, and Miguel LOVED it.

After an absolutely sublime dinner at the steakhouse, Johnny and Miguel finally went back to the hotel room for the night, and they sat in their hotel room, watching on TV all of the promotional videos about the upcoming fight. As they were doing so, Johnny reached into his duffel bag and took out a deck of cards, before turning to Miguel.

"You ever play Blackjack before?" Johnny asked. Miguel shrugged, trying to keep a straight face when in reality, he was a BEAST at Blackjack. Miguel had a photographic memory, which enabled him to count cards, a skill that was able to bring down whatever dealer he was playing with.

"Eh. Little bit." Miguel replied. Johnny nodded.

"Let's test your skills." Johnny said. Miguel sat up on his bed and got up and walked over to the terrace and sat next to Johnny.

"We betting actual money?" Miguel asked. Johnny chuckled.

"Of course we're betting money! Why play cards if you aren't betting money?" Johnny asked.

"For fun?" Miguel asked. Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Okay, let's do this. 5 dollar bet." Johnny said, relatively confident that he would beat Miguel.

"Ooh, can I shuffle?" Miguel asked. Johnny nodded, and Miguel started shuffling the cards rather stupidly, dropping a couple here and there, and after a minute, handing Johnny the cards.

"You know what? You shuffle. I can't do this." Miguel said. Johnny smiled, even more confident now.

"Sure. Care to raise it to 10 dollar bets?" He asked. Miguel put on a face of mock-disbelief.

"10 bucks? You know what? What the hell, let's do it!"

An hour later, Miguel had earned 200 dollars from Johnny, even though he was only betting like 10 bucks a game. He had won every single round, and Johnny was shell-shocked.

"What the hell?!" He cried.

Miguel smirked at him and took the cards, expertly shuffling them. Johnny's jaw dropped when he realised what happened a moment later.

"Wait a second… you hustled me!" Johnny exclaimed. Miguel laughed and stood up.

"Good game. Better luck next time." Miguel smiled. Johnny glared at him for several moments, before smiling again.

"You know what? This is great! Now that I know you're some kind of Blackjack king, you can earn a LOT of money at the casino tomorrow!"

Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"How? I don't think I'm allowed to gamble in a casino, Sensei. I'm 16. It's against the law." Miguel stated. Johnny grinned widely and walked over to his suitcase, pulling out earphones and a miniscule suit brooch.

"I know you're under 21, which is why we're going to use a trick that Jimmy taught me." Johnny said. "I might be the one at the blackjack table, but you are going to be the one playing. You are going to sit in the lobby of the casino, hooked up to your phone. I am going to use this spy camera thingy Jimmy gave me and pin it to my breast pocket. With that, you'll be able to see exactly what cards I get, and then through the earphones, we'll have a phone call running so you can tell me what to do."

Miguel raised an eyebrow in shock. This was an extremely sneaky plan from his sensei.

"Really? Is that allowed?" Miguel asked. Johnny chuckled.

"Oh, no. Not at all." He replied, honestly.

"Well, what happens if we get caught?" Miguel asked.

"We get kicked out of the casino, possibly arrested, definitely vacation over." Johnny said. "So, what do you say?"

Miguel grinned.

"I'm on board."

Johnny clapped his hands together eagerly and laughed.

"Atta boy. Now, get some sleep. We win big tomorrow…"

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And win BIG was exactly what they did. They spent the whole morning and afternoon in the casino, at the blackjack table. With Miguel in Johnny's ear, Johnny won round after round after round after round, and soon, the 100 dollars they started the game with, had become 10 FRICKIN' THOUSAND! That's right! Miguel had won 10 grand playing casino games! The casinos were vigilant though. They checked carefully for any sign of cheating, and even at one point randomly took the earphones from Johnny and listened to see if he was actually listening to music, which was what he said he was listening to to the dealer. Miguel had to improvise quickly, singing a random song. Johnny convinced the casino security that it was 'his son who had recorded him a playlist of songs for Christmas', and the casino bought it so they were able to leave the casino with all of their winnings.

"So, kid, what do you think you're going to do with your winnings?" Johnny asked Miguel as they headed over to the arena for the UFC fight. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"It's not my winnings. It was your 100 bucks we started with. It's your 10k."

Johnny shook his head.

"No, it's _your_ 9900 dollars." He replied. "So what are you going to do with it?"

Miguel smiled widely.

"Well, my family owe 5000 more for the surgery fees. I guess I can finally finish paying off that debt, and still have 5k to keep for myself."

Johnny laughed.

"Jeez. You're so responsible. Such a dork, Diaz." He remarked. Miguel rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. This dork just earned 10 thousand dollars in a day, so…" Miguel responded. Johnny chuckled and the two of them walked into the T-Mobile Arena for the UFC event...

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The fight was absolutely insane! Although Johnny and Miguel were both HUGE Conor McGregor fans and they were both cheering for him, Khabib ended up winning the fight, making McGregor actually tap out in the 4th round. They got to watch some brilliant fighting from both of them, and Johnny used the opportunity to point out to Miguel a couple of great techniques that the two greatest fighters in the world used and how Miguel could use them in the All-Valley. In particular, McGregor's striking and Khabib's grappling takedowns and submissions were things that Johnny helped explain to Miguel how he could include them in his own fights. But on the whole, teaching and learning was neither of their priorities. Instead, they drank beer, ate popcorn, and watched some brilliant fights unfold.

After the event, Johnny and Miguel went straight back to their hotel, and then checked out and prepared to leave after an amazing stay. It had been a 2 day/1 night trip of absolute mayhem, but damn it if it wasn't the best weekend of Miguel's life!

At around 1 am, they finally pulled up to their driveway. Miguel started to get out of the car, but Johnny stopped him.

"Hey, um… kid, listen." Johnny said, taking a deep breath. This was it. Time to tell Miguel the secret they had been hiding for a month. "There's something I have to tell you, and I wanted you to be in the best possible frame of mind before you heard it…"

"Sensei, I know you and my mom got hitched." Miguel interrupted calmly. Johnny's heart stopped, and his jaw dropped.

"When did you find out?" Johnny asked.

"Well, I saw a marriage license buried in the apartment like two weeks ago when I was looking for spare batteries. I thought that you guys were thinking about getting married, but hadn't actually done it yet."

"That's why you were avoiding me for 2 weeks?" Johnny asked. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah. Then, today, during the drive, you somehow knew exactly where to go in Vegas, despite the fact that you supposedly hadn't been there for a year. Then, the icing on the cake was on Google Maps. When we were about to head to the steakhouse, I borrowed your phone to use Google Maps to try and get directions. There, in your search history, was directions to a wedding chapel. I kind of put things together at that point."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Johnny asked. Miguel shrugged.

"I didn't want anything to distract us from the weekend. After all, this was the best weekend of my life." Miguel replied, still extremely calm. Johnny's eyes were wide. Miguel seemed to be taking this extraordinarily well.

"Wow. So, you're not mad?" Johnny stammered. Miguel shook his head.

"No, why would I be mad?" Miguel asked. "Hey, you know, I called Hawk this morning. I thought the two of us could go to Vegas together next week, maybe sneak into a bar or two, and I don't know, GET MARRIED WITHOUT TELLING ANYONE!"

There it was. The explosion. Miguel was NOT fine. Far from it.

"So you are mad?" Johnny asked.

"Of course I'm mad, Johnny!" Miguel shouted. "I'm not mad that you and my mom got married! I'm really happy for the two of you actually. I'm mad that you didn't tell me!"

"We wanted to. We just weren't sure how you would react. You're under a lot of stress and..." Johnny said.

"So what? You just decided to keep a massive, life-changing event from me instead?" Miguel spat. "You thought that would make me less stressed out? You know, we've been through a lot together. I've trusted you with things I wouldn't trust another living soul. It's just… it's a shame you don't have the same trust in me. Good night, Johnny."

With that, Miguel stormed out of the car but rather than going into the apartment, he walked off into the night, quickly disappearing from sight…


	32. Chapter 32

"Oh, my God! Where did he go? We need to call the police!" Carmen panicked frantically as her and Johnny drove around all of Miguel's usual spots, searching desperately for him. He had been gone for over an hour now, with no message to Carmen or Johnny. For all they knew, he could be sleeping on the streets in some back alley somewhere, where he could get mugged or killed!

"We can't call the cops for a missing person for 24 hours." Johnny murmured in reply.

Spending 5 hours searching, at around 6 in the morning, the sun started to rise. Johnny parked at their compound, where there was still no sign of Miguel. He turned to Carmen.

"Hey, look, he's 16. He's a grown man. I taught him how to defend himself. He's going to be okay." Johnny reassured her. "You should go inside. Get some rest. Miguel may well come back to the house soon, and one of us should be there in case he does."

Carmen eventually nodded.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Where will you be?" She asked. Johnny took a deep breath.

"I'm going to check one more place. After that, I'll be right back." Johnny replied. Carmen nodded and got out of the car, and then Johnny took off down the road. He drove for 15 minutes, up to Encino Hills, to a house he never wanted to come near again. However, drastic times call for drastic measures.

Johnny got out of his car and walked up to the front of the house, past the perfectly gardened front lawn, and he rang the doorbell. Moments later, a blurry-eyed, extremely dishevelled and exhausted looking Daniel opened the door, but he immediately woke up when he saw who was standing in front of him. He was instantly guarded, raising his hands as if gearing up for a fight, but he quickly lowered them when he saw that Johnny had no intention of throwing fists.

"What do you want?" Daniel asked, confusion undercutting what he was trying to make a harsh tone.

"Hey. Um… can I talk to your daughter?" Johnny asked, his voice surprisingly quiet and Daniel immediately noticed the worry and alarm in his rival's voice. Only one person could trigger that much fear in the normally fearless man: something was wrong with Miguel. Daniel nodded and opened the door for Johnny, leading him into the living room, where Sam and Amanda were sitting. When they saw him, their eyes widened. NOBODY expected to see Johnny standing there, a couple of feet away from his biggest rival, and the two of them not trying to fight each other.

"Johnny! What can we do for you?" Amanda asked, cheerfully. She personally had nothing against Johnny. She didn't care about Daniel and Johnny's rivalry. She didn't care about any of them but Kreese. That man was dangerous, so she had nothing but respect for anyone trying to stop him, even if one of those people was her husband's nemesis.

"Look, sorry to barge in, but have any of you heard anything from Miguel in the past couple of hours?" Johnny asked, directing his question mainly at Sam. Daniel and Amanda shook their heads, and then turned to Sam, who also shook her head.

"No. I saw he posted a couple of pictures with you from Vegas on his Instagram last night, but nothing since." Sam replied. Johnny groaned in worry as the steel fist that was clenching around his heart grew tighter and tighter.

"Why, what's going on, Johnny?" Daniel asked. Johnny sighed.

"Well, Miguel's mom Carmen and I got hitched about a month ago…"

"That's amazing, Johnny! Congratulations!" Amanda exclaimed. Johnny shook his head.

"Not quite. We didn't tell Miguel because we didn't want to stress him out. We kept it secret for a month, but it soon became too much. We decided it was time to tell him once and for all. So I took him to Vegas, to the McGregor Khabib fight…"

" _You_ took him to the UFC? How? That shit's expensive!" Daniel remarked. Amanda glared at her husband.

"Is that really important?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, Larusso, shut up and listen to your wife. So we had a fun weekend in Vegas, and at the end, he revealed to me that he found out about us getting hitched two days ago. He got pissed that we didn't choose to tell him sooner, and he stormed out of my car. I haven't seen him since."

"What time was this?" Daniel asked.

"Around 1. So he's been gone about 6 hours now." Johnny replied. The Larussos all exchanged worried looks. They didn't have to be fighting for the same dojo to be worried about a teenager out on the streets, alone, in the middle of the night.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry, Johnny. None of us have seen him, but we'll let you know if any of us hear from him." Amanda said, speaking mainly for Samantha, who had gone slightly pale. Johnny nodded.

"Thank you so much." He replied, before walking out the house and continuing to search for his step-son, dialling his phone incessantly and hoping and praying that Miguel would pick up…

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"Hey, how's it going?" Miguel asked, stepping into a cab. He had spent the nights in an alley on the streets, not feeling like going home and facing Johnny and Carmen. He was absolutely LIVID with them. After everything they had all been through together, they had stabbed him in the back. Miguel needed to talk to someone, someone who knew him well, but he did not feel like talking to either of them. That's when it hit him. Someone who knew him his entire life. It was a terrible idea. A fucking horrible idea. But it was the only one he had.

"Not too bad. And yourself?" The taxi driver asked.

"I've been better." Miguel replied, honestly.

"You want to talk about it? Cab drivers are the new bartenders." The driver asked, kindly. Miguel chuckled.

"Not particularly." He replied. The taxi driver nodded.

"Okay, where can I take you?" The driver asked.

When Miguel told him the location, the driver's eyes widened.

"You've got to be joking!" He exclaimed. Miguel shook his head.

"I'm serious. Now, can you take me or not?" He asked. The driver reluctantly nodded.

"All right. Let's go…"

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"WAKE UP, DIAZ! You have a visitor!" A guard bellowed, banging on Miguel's father's cell door. Mr. Diaz groaned and slowly stood up. It was 7 in the morning and he was already being woken up. It was Sunday too. Every prisoner's favourite day. Well, every prisoner but Mr. Diaz. Only one person ever visited him. On the first day of every month, Retired Army Captain John Kreese would visit him, and each time he visited, he would tell Miguel's dad more and more of his story, and how he knew Miguel. Apparently, Kreese had a plan that involved Mr. Diaz, and with every snippet of the story Kreese told him about how Johnny and Miguel screwed him over too, Miguel's dad was more and more into whatever Kreese had in mind.

However, today wasn't the first of the month, so Miguel's father had no idea who was visiting him. He walked into the visitor's centre and did a double take when he saw who was sitting on the other side of the plexiglass window… it was none other than Miguel himself!

Miguel's heart was pounding when he saw his dad sit down opposite him, a mere sheet of glass the only thing separating the two of them. He was absolutely terrified. This was the first time he had seen his dad since everything went down. However, he forced himself to stay calm. He needed answers.

"Well, well, well, look who it is." His dad remarked as Miguel picked up the plastic phone and put it to his ear so the two of them could talk.

"What's up, you son of a bitch?" Miguel growled. "How's prison? I've always heard that prison food is pretty bad. Is that myth or fact?"

"Oh, that's fact, son." Miguel's dad replied. "I swear, sometimes they just scoop mud from the garden and they slop it into a plate and call it dinner."

Miguel chuckled.

"Well, that sounds good." Miguel replied. "You're 42 now so provided you live to 90, only 53,000 meals left."

Miguel smirked as he saw his dad wince at the mention of that, squirming uneasily.

"Why are you here, Miguel?" His father asked, curious. Miguel sighed.

"We need to talk. Man to dickless spineless piece of shit." Miguel stated. His dad rolled his eyes at the cheap insult.

"What can I do for you?" His dad asked. Miguel took a deep breath.

"Do you remember my 10th birthday?" He asked. "I was finally 140 cm so the two of us went to that theme park in Ecuador. I was finally tall enough to go on the biggest rollercoaster in the park, so I insisted we go on the roller coaster…"

"8 times in a row. But you insisted on scarfing 5 corndogs first. After the eighth time, you threw up in a garbage bin, but rather than stopping there, we got back on the ride and did it 5 more times." Miguel's father finished the story. Miguel smiled faintly at the memory. It was one of his favourite days of his childhood, a year before his father became the abusive asshole he was today.

"You were my best friend, you know?" Miguel stated. "My hero. The man I wanted to be when I grew up. But a year later, I was having my face beaten in by that very man. So I ask, what happened?"

"I'm sorry, what?" His dad asked, at a complete loss now.

"What happened?" Miguel repeated. "Why did you stab me in the back like that? I trusted you and I loved you so much, but you threw me under the bus."

Miguel then told his father the whole story. There was no harm. He would be in jail for the rest of his life, anyways. When Miguel revealed to his father that Johnny had married Carmen, his father's face flashed with anger. He wanted to kill Johnny. That man had taken everything from him. However, Miguel's dad forced himself to stay calm. He had the opportunity right there to get in his son's head.

"So you're asking me what made me stab you in the back, so to speak?" His dad asked. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah." Miguel nodded.

"Well, can I point out something?" His dad remarked. "Your mother, Johnny, me. All of these people stabbed you in the back. You keep asking what made us do what we did. Something the three of us have in common. Well, there is one thing that is the constant in all three situations. Well, one person. You. Have you ever considered that you might be the problem, Miguel?"

Miguel fell silent for several moments as he took in what his father had just said. He blinked, and then he once again saw the man who had beaten him mercilessly for 3 years before they fled Ecuador. The brief moment they had of being civil towards each other was over.

"You know what? This was a mistake. Fuck you." Miguel snapped, before slamming the phone back onto the cradle and storming out of the prison…

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"All right! Class, listen up!" Kreese barked, and the Cobra Kais quickly snapped to attention. "I have a new drill for all of you. Follow me."

The Cobra Kai students followed Kreese down to the back dojo, and when they walked in, they saw three metal human dummies in the center of the room. A paper picture of Miguel, Hawk and Sam's face were stuck on each of the three dummies' faces, and various red circles were stuck on various spots on each person's body. The Cobras looked at Kreese, questioningly. He quickly explained to them what was going on.

"This is our final step before the All-Valley." Kreese announced. "I have taught all of you how to fight any random opponent. But, to win the All-Valley, I need to teach you how to face the tournament's biggest threats. Take a look at the Mr. Diaz dummy here for example…"

The Cobras all walked around the dummy of Miguel that Kreese had made. There was a red circle stuck on Miguel's back, and another red circle stuck on his left arm.

"The two target zones that I want both of you to aim for should you have to fight Mr. Diaz are the back and the left arm. Thanks to Mr. Keene, Mr. Diaz is far from his full fighting capacity. He has two weaknesses, his back and his left shoulder. When you fight him, be sure to isolate those areas with your hits."

As Robby listened to Kreese talk, his jaw dropped in horror. He couldn't believe what Kreese was asking them to do. It was like he was finally waking up and wisening to what was going on. Kreese wasn't trying to just win the fight: he was trying to obliterate his opponents. And Robby knew one thing… he needed to get out. NOW!


	33. Chapter 33

After Miguel left the prison, he walked down the street, his father's words still echoing through his head.

" _You. Have you ever considered that you might be the problem, Miguel?"_

NO! That couldn't be true, could it? Could all of this actually be his fault? His dad had a point. Johnny and his dad were literally opposite in every way, and yet they had both stabbed him in the back. The only similarity in both situations… him! It was his fault!

Miguel was pulled out of his train of thought when he stepped into a Starbucks. He was absolutely starving as he hadn't eaten breakfast and lunch that day. The cafe was practically empty so he quickly bought himself a drink and a bagel and he was sitting down until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a young man, no more than 7 years older than him, sitting in a wheelchair.

"Excuse me. I'm really sorry to bother you but would you mind helping me tie my laces?" The man asked, tentatively. Noticing that he was in a motorised wheelchair and his movement was extremely restricted, Miguel nodded and did so. The man smiled at him after he did so. "Thank you so much."

"No problem." Miguel replied. The man sighed.

"Five years ago, I was lacing up my cleats and preparing for the NCAA Sugar Bowl football game. Now I need help tying my fucking shoes. Life can be a real bitch, huh?"

Miguel chuckled and nodded.

"Tell me about it. Do you mind if I ask what happened?" Miguel asked. The two of them then exchanged stories. Miguel told him all about his back injury and his paralysis after. After he did, the man, a guy named Garrick, told Miguel his horror story. Apparently, Garrick had been a wide receiver playing college football in Ohio State. However, in his junior year, he had developed a rare disease called…

"Motor Neurone Disease." Garrick explained. "My neurons in my spine and brain have slowly started to deteriorate. I was put in this stupid wheelchair six months ago and I'm definitely never getting out of it. There's no cure. I'm just going to get worse and worse, until..."

"Man, I'm really sorry." Miguel murmured. He felt so stupid for making such a big deal out of his issues. This man was going through a nightmare that was far worse than anything Miguel could ever have imagined. "Are you at least surrounded by your family?"

Garrick chuckled mirthlessly.

"I wish. My mom passed away when I was really young, and I never see my dad because he's always working to pay for hospital fees." Garrick replied. Miguel put his head in his hands. He now felt even more monumentally dumb. He had been sulking around at Carmen and Johnny, making himself into a victim, when he had two parents (well, one parent and one step-parent) who both cared a LOT about him.

"Man, I really don't know what to say." Miguel murmured. "That really sucks."

Garrick nodded.

"Yeah, yeah it does." He sighed. "You know, there's a 1/3 chance I don't live to see next year."

"There's a 2/3 chance you do." Miguel commently simply in reply. He then reached into his wallet and pulled out a blank cheque. He quickly scribbled down the required information on it and then handed it to Garrick. When Garrick read it, his eyes widened.

"This is… this is a cheque for 5000 dollars." He stammered. "I can't accept this!"

"Look, this isn't charity." Miguel stated. "If anything, this is for your dad. Hopefully, with this, you and him can spend a bit more time together as he'll get to work a little less. I know a thing or two about shitty dads, but I know a thing or two about good ones too, and from the sound of things, yours sounds like a pretty damn good one."

Garrick smiled widely at Miguel as he eventually accepted the cheque.

"Mate, I don't know what to say." Garrick said, grinning from ear to ear. "Thank you SO much."

"No problem." Miguel replied. "Look, I've gotta go. Could I get your number? Maybe we could hang out sometime?"

Garrick nodded and gave Miguel his number.

"All right. See you soon, man." Miguel said, before walking out of the cafe and getting into a cab, this time going home…

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What to do? What to do? Robby asked himself that question over and over again that afternoon as he travelled home from Cobra Kai training. He knew that he would NOT be training with Kreese any longer. He needed an out. But where would he go? He would NOT be going back to Daniel. That man had gotten him thrown in juvie. He had been his teacher when Robby did the worst thing he had ever done (kick Miguel over the balcony). He couldn't go to no sensei, because that would make him target number 1 for all of Cobras to attack on the streets. That left him with one more option…

Robby pulled into Johnny's compound. As he stepped out of the taxi, he shuddered at the eerily familiar surroundings. Last time he had been here, he had snapped Miguel's shoulder in his fit of anger. Although Miguel wasn't injured any more, Robby still felt pretty guilty for that. He knew that if he seriously wanted to join Johnny's dojo, he would have to face Miguel and apologise for what he did, and just hope and pray that Miguel was forgiving.

He knocked on Johnny's door but to his surprise, there was no one there. He sighed and sat down, concealed by bushes, in the corner of the compound as he waited for Johnny to come home.

The next car to pull into the compound was not Johnny's - Johnny was actually home as he was in Carmen's place - but was a cab. Stepping out of the cab was Miguel. The Ecuadorian couldn't see Robby as Robby was pretty well hidden, and Miguel was pretty distracted. He was holding a glass of champagne in his hands, and he knocked on his mom's door. Carmen and Johnny both answered it almost immediately, hoping beyond hope that it was their son. Miguel had been gone for 20 hours, 4 more and they would call the cops. They let out a massive relief when they saw Miguel standing there. A MASSIVE weight had been lifted from their shoulders. They raised an eyebrow when they saw the champagne glass in his hands. Miguel took a deep breath.

"Hey. Um… I know you guys didn't have an actual wedding, but I figure it's common courtesy to give you guys a wedding toast." Miguel said. "I was selfish, and I freaked out, and I'm so sorry. So here it is. Mom, I love you. I've known you both together, and I've known you both apart, and I can honestly say that I've never seen either of you a fraction as happy as when you are together. Johnny, that's right I'm not calling you sensei outside the dojo anymore if you're legally my step dad, I would say welcome to the family, but honestly, you've been in the family for 2 years now. What you two have is what I one day hope to find. But until then, cheers to you both. I love you guys."

"Oh, Miguel…" Carmen smiled, tears brimming in her eyes, as she embraced her son tightly. "I'm so…"

Here it was. Did they forgive him? Was she happy? Upset? Proud? Disappointed?"

"Exhausted right now that I feel like I'm delirious." Carmen mumbled. "I'm only 60% sure you're actually here right now, but if you are… I love you. And you are the best son a mother could ever have."

"Thanks, mom." Miguel murmured.

Meanwhile, Robby, who had seen the whole thing from his hiding spot, punched the wall in rage. WHAT THE HELL?! His anger towards Miguel came flooding back! Miguel had stolen everything he ever wanted: he had the family Robby had dreamed of his whole life! Kreese was right. You really didn't get anything without fighting tooth and nail for it. Robby then vowed then and there that he would do anything it took to win the All-Valley tournament. He was Cobra Kai's number 1 student, and he was proud of it…

So close, yet so far…

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The next month had absolutely flown by and before they knew it, it was July 18th, the night before the All-Valley. Although Kreese's students were training long into the night, Johnny didn't want Miguel and Hawk to do the same. They needed to be well-rested for the tournament the next day, more than they needed the extra hours of training. He had trained Miguel and Hawk with absolutely everything him and Jimmy had. They flipped tyres, jumped rope, ran sprints, and almost every physical drill under the sun. They watched replays of the All American Karate Tournament from last year and learned some of the techniques that the fighters used. They did stamina drills. Speed drills. Agility drills.

So, the night before the All-Valley, rather than training, Johnny took Miguel and Hawk to his favourite bar, where Jimmy and Bobby both joined them.

"So, you boys excited for the tournament tomorrow?" Bobby asked. Miguel and Hawk nodded.

"Yeah, I mean we trained like fucking soldiers. I'm excited to finally put the training to the test." Hawk replied. "There's only so much sparring you can do. We need the competitiveness. The game."

"Speaking of the game, you youngbloods fancy trying your luck against me at pool?" Jimmy asked. Miguel and Hawk looked at each other, trying not to smirk, and they nodded.

"Let's do it." Miguel said, and the two of them walked away. When they were gone, Bobby turned to Johnny.

"I'm really proud of you, Johnny. You raised two great kids there." Bobby remarked.

"I didn't do anything." Johnny replied, brushing off the compliment. Bobby shook his head.

"Yes, you did. Especially with Miguel. If you can't see the impact you had on them, you're blind." Bobby said. Johnny chuckled.

"Wow, I'm flattered. A priest is complimenting my parenting." Johnny joked. Bobby rolled his eyes and put his head in his hands.

"Okay, clearly you haven't grown up that much." Bobby replied. Johnny took a deep breath.

"In all seriousness, I need to get your opinion on something. Between me and Miguel. I've already spoken to his mom about it and she's on board, but I was wondering about your opinion."

"What is it?" Bobby asked, curiously. Johnny then told him the thing that him and Carmen had previously discussed, and he was about to talk to Miguel about. When he told his friend, Bobby's eyes widened.

"Well, what do you think?" Johnny asked, tentatively.

"Johnny… that's amazing!" Bobby exclaimed. "And of course he's going to say yes!"

15 minutes later, as Bobby was paying the bar tab, Jimmy, Hawk and Miguel returned to the pool table, grins on Miguel and Hawk's faces but a sour look on Jimmy's.

"Your kids suck, Johnny!" He exclaimed. "You know what they did? They hustled me! They won 100 bucks from me!"

Johnny chuckled as he looked at the gleeful expressions on Miguel and Hawk's face.

"Don't take it too hard, buddy. Miguel did the exact same thing to me in Vegas, but he robbed me of 200." Johnny replied.

"Hey! I didn't rob you! I just beat you at the game fairly. It was your decision to up the ante." Miguel exclaimed, indignantly.

"All right. I just paid the tab. I think it's time to wrap up for the night. You guys need to get some sleep." He said.

"You coming tomorrow?" Johnny asked. Bobby grinned.

"Of course I'm coming! I can't wait to see the look on that son of a bitch Kreese's face when you guys drive him out of the Valley forever!"

"Wow, calling someone a son of a bitch. Didn't think that was in a priest's vocabulary." Miguel remarked. Bobby glared at him and then turned to Johnny.

"That kid's seriously a man of your own heart, Johnny." Bobby remarked. "For the last time, I'm NOT A PRIEST!"

The rest of the group laughed, and they eventually went their separate ways. However, when Johnny and Miguel got into the car, Johnny didn't drive them home. He drove them up to their favourite spot in the city, at the top of the mountain. It was the same spot Johnny had taken Miguel to months earlier to vent about his dad, and he had an equally significant topic this time.

"Johnny, what are we doing here?" Miguel asked as he got out of the car and sat at the edge of the cliff, gazing at the gorgeous view. The beauty never got old.

"I want to talk to you about something. Just the two of us." Johnny replied. He took out a large file from the back of his car, and then he walked over to Miguel, sitting down beside him. Miguel looked at the cover of the file and his eyes widened.

"Oh, God! A State of L.A courthouse file? Is this about my driving?" Miguel asked in a panic. "I swear, it was a car that merely looked like mine that was going 140 miles an hour on an empty road. And I swear that garbage bin looked like a parking meter!"

"Miguel, relax. It's not about your driving." Johnny laughed. "Although I would like to hear about those stories later."

"Oh, um… okay. Then what is this about?" Miguel asked, curiously.

"These are, um… adoption papers." Johnny revealed. He took a deep breath and he began explaining. "Miguel, you taught me more about how to be a man than I ever taught you. You are hands down the best person I know, and I'm extremely blessed that I even had a minuscule part in raising you. I love you like you're my biological son. That's why, if you sign these adoption papers, you would legally become my son too, not just my step-son. There's no pressure or anything. I'd completely understand if you say no. It's entirely up to you."

Miguel's jaw dropped as he took in what Johnny was offering him, and he was absolutely speechless. It took him a solid minute to string words together and he replied…

"Johnny, you were damn well more than just a miniscule part in raising me." Miguel murmured. "You taught me how to shave. You taught me how to drive. You taught me how to fight. You taught me how to play basketball. You're my dad, Johnny, no more said. And I'd… I'd be honored to legally become your son."

Johnny's eyes widened, and although he hated to admit it, tears started to creep up on him.

"Miguel, I love you man." Johnny said.

"Love you too, Johnny." Miguel replied, hugging him. The two of them gazed up at the night sky for several moments in comfortable silence, before getting up.

"We should probably get going. You need to get some sleep. Big day tomorrow." Johnny said. "You nervous?"

Miguel smiled.

"Not really. I know that whether I win or not, I've got the best sensei in the world in my corner…"


	34. Chapter 34

"All right, guys! Gather around!" Both Johnny, Kreese and Daniel called to their respective dojos on opposite sides of the All-Valley Sports Center the next morning. The day had finally arrived. 6 months of extremely rigorous training had finally come down to today, the day of the All-Valley tournament.

Miguel had woken up that morning, already nervous. He couldn't stomach anything more for breakfast than a single piece of toast, and him and Johnny left for the sports arena early so they could register and get ready. Carmen and Miguel's yaya would be coming later, closer to when the tournament began.

As Hawk and Miguel stood opposite Johnny and Jimmy, the Miyagi Do students stood opposite Daniel and Julie, and the Cobras stood before Barnes and Kreese, the three instructors began to give their pep talks.

"All right, listen up, guys! Today's the day." Daniel said. "The day we finally show the world what Miyagi-Do is all about. I don't care about the result too much, because I know that each and every one of you gave me every ounce of what you've got. All I want you to do is…"

"Beat the living shit out of them!" Johnny declared. "That's what I want you to do to all of your opponents today. I want you to use every strike, every kick, every throw Jimmy and I have taught you. But at the end of the fight, I want you to always bow and shake hands with your opponents. We're badasses, but we're not…"

"Assholes!" Daniel spat. "That's what Cobra Kai are. They have all bullied us for a very long time. But I don't want you guys to let emotions from the past into your fighting and end up abandoning Miyagi-Do's never-strike-first…"

"Bullshit! That's what Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do's policies are!" Jimmy stated. "Both dojos have too one-sided ethoses. Ours is perfect. We strike first. We strike hard. But we show mercy. If your opponent is already down and you've already won the fight, you…"

"Finish him!" Kreese barked. "Your opponent is never down and out until he has stopped breathing. The fight is still going until the ref steps in and pulls you away. What I want you to do today is to…"

"Show forgiveness." Daniel stated.

"Kick ass. Have fun." Johnny declared.

"Obliterate this tournament!" Kreese spat. "Is that clear?"

"YES, SENSEI!"

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"All right. We're all signed in." Johnny announced as he walked over to the other Eagle-Fangs half an hour later. "Miguel, just one thing. As the reigning champ, you have the option to skip prelims and go straight into the quarter-finals. Your choice."

"I want to fight in the prelims." Miguel immediately replied. Johnny looked at him, slightly worried.

"Are you sure? The last thing I want you to do is to burn out, or get injured in the prelim. I mean, for all you know, you could be facing Robby in the prelims. Are you sure you want to risk that?"

Miguel nodded.

"Yeah. My muscles are feeling kind of tense today. I feel it would be good to get a warm up and get into the fighting mindset, you know?"

Johnny nodded.

"Fair point. Okay, so there really isn't much to do now. You guys just need to change into your gi's, and then we can warm up and stretch and get ready for the tournament to begin."

"Are we wearing our normal training gi's?" Hawk asked. Jimmy chuckled and shook his head. He opened his duffel bag, tossing Miguel and Hawk their special tournament gi's. As Miguel and Hawk looked at them, their eyes widened and they whistled in appreciation.

"Daaaaaamn! These are nice!" Hawk remarked.

"Right?! Go put them on!" Johnny instructed. 5 minutes later, Miguel and Hawk walked out of the changing room in their new gi's. They were jet black - not dissimilar to the Cobra Kai gi - but rather than yellow embroidery and a snake at the back, it had a fire embroidery and an Eagle-Fang logo at the back.

"These are awesome!" Miguel exclaimed as him and Hawk looked at each other. The gi's had been perfectly measured for them, so they fitted like a glove. Johnny and Jimmy were also donning Eagle-Fang merchandise, and moments later, Miguel tapped Johnny on the shoulder and pointed to something behind him. Johnny turned around to see the Miyagi-Do dojo walking towards them, led by Daniel and Julie, all of them donning the clean, white, long-sleeve gi's.

"Hey. What do you want?" Jimmy asked them.

"We just wanted to wish you guys good luck." Daniel said. "Our dojos… we're fighting against the same common enemy. It's in our best interests to look out for each ot… wow, Johnny, you couldn't resist, huh?" Daniel's message was cut off when he noticed Miguel and Hawk's gi's. At the top of the back of their gi jacket, Johnny had also gotten a message printed in block capital font. He had printed KICK SOME ASS in a fiery font.

"What? These gi's are badass!" Johnny exclaimed. Daniel scoffed.

"You do realise what they look like, right? They look like alternate versions of the Cobra Kai gi." Daniel stated. Johnny shrugged.

"So? I stand by it. The Cobra Kai gi is also badass." Johnny declared, daring Daniel to challenge him. Before another word could come out of his mouth, two arms draped around Daniel and Johnny's shoulders.

"Family reunion? Can I join?" A familiar, cold, calculating voice asked. Johnny and Daniel spun around to see Kreese, Barnes and Cobra Kai standing right beside them. Daniel and Johnny immediately tensed up, and they slapped Kreese's hands off of them.

"What do you want?" Daniel growled. "And where's Silver?"

"He's running an errant." Kreese replied, cryptically. "And I'm just here to wish you guys my deepest condolences."

"Excuse me?" Johnny snapped.

"I hope you guys enjoyed the time you spent with your kids. Because I guarantee you, they aren't leaving this arena alive."

"Shut up. And get the fuck away from us." Johnny spat. Kreese smiled and nodded.

"See you guys out there." He said, before stalking away. Johnny and Daniel then both turned to their respective dojos, who were watching on, concerned.

"You guys okay?" Johnny asked Miguel and Hawk. They nodded.

"Yeah, fine." Hawk replied. Johnny then turned to Daniel and held out a hand.

"May the best team win." He said. Daniel nodded and shook it.

"May the best team win…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The prelims of the tournament flew by for Miguel and Hawk. They recognised many faces from last year's tournament, and they immediately gauged the threats: Tory, Robby, Sam, Kyler, Shawn and Xander Stone, who was back after his semi final loss last year to Miguel. However, thankfully, they didn't have to fight any of these people.

The way prelims worked was that each fighter had to win 3/3 fights to qualify for the quarter finals. The fights were scored the same way as the knockout rounds: first to 3 points, any strikes above the waist are a point.

Hawk was the first of the two Eagle-Fangs to fight in his prelims, and luckily for him, he didn't have to fight a single Miyagi-Do or Eagle-Fang. Although dropping a couple of points here and there, he easily coasted to a spot in the knockouts.

Miguel was one of the last people to begin fighting the prelims. He fought fast, and he fought hard right out the gate, and he didn't drop a single point the entire prelims! 3-0, 3-0, 3-0. Easy. Peasy.

Unfortunately, Miyagi-Do didn't have the same luck Eagle-Fang did. Although Sam - their standout star fighter - made it to the knockout rounds, she was the only person who did. Demitri, the other decent fighter among them, was pitted against none other than Tory, who absolutely mauled him until the ref decided to end the fight early and give Tory the win. Sam was forced to watch on as the girl who had been haunting her nightmares for 6 months beat the living crap out of one of her best friends. It definitely was messing with her head, but she couldn't let it get to her in the knockouts. Besides, what were the odds the two of them would end up facing off, right?

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Soon, the stage was set for the quarter finals. The 8 fighters who qualified had been established: Miguel, Hawk, Sam, Tory, Robby, Shawn, Kyler and Xander. The standard of fighters in this year's tournament was infinitely better than the standard last year. People like Sam, Tory and Shawn were fighting for the first time, and even veterans like Miguel and Robby were a million times better than they were last year.

Right before the beginning of the quarter finals, Michael, the All-Valley committee head, was sitting in his office. He was extremely excited for this year's tournament. It was the most packed the All-Valley Sports Arena had ever been, and the crowds seemed to be loving the prelims so far. He had in his hands a random quarter finals bracket, and he was about to go out and announce it to the fans and fighters, when he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" He called. Walking into the room was the Cobra Kai sensei, John Kreese. Michael smiled. The man was always extremely polite and courteous to him.

"Hello, Michael." Kreese said as he walked over to Michael.

"Hey, man! Your dojo has been doing great so far! 4 fighters out of the 8 in the quarter finals are in your dojo! That's gotta be some kind of record!"

Kreese chuckled.

"Yeah, thank you. I actually had a favour to ask you." Kreese said, pulling out a sheet of paper. It was a bracket for the quarter finals that he had made the night before, knowing full well who the fighters in the top 8 would be. It provided Miguel with the toughest physical and emotional path to the finals possible, whilst simultaneously providing Robby with the easiest path. In addition, as an added bonus, it pitted Sam and Hawk against their toughest psychological challenges.

Kreese handed the paper to Michael, who looked at it, confused.

"I'd like you to use this sheet of paper as the bracket for the knockouts." Kreese stated. Micahel looked at him, puzzled.

"Mr. Kreese! I can't do that! It wouldn't be fair for the other dojos!" Michael exclaimed.

"Come on. As a favor to me and my students. My students have been through a lot. They deserve this."

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Kreese. There's nothing I can do." Michael said. Kreese chuckled.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to make you…" Suddenly, Kreese lunged at Michael, grabbing Michael's arm in the same lock he had Tory's landlord in 9 months ago, and he took out his cigar cutter, looping it around Michael's finger, ready to slice. "Reconsider?"

Michael started trembling in fear, and he stammered to string words together.

"Okay! Okay! I'll do it! Just please don't hurt me!" He begged. Kreese smiled.

"I knew you'd come around." Kreese replied. "Thank you, Michael. Don't tell anyone about this though, because I have plenty of friends who can come finish the job for me if you do. Is that understood?"

"Yes, yes, understood! I swear, understood!" Michael begged. Kreese nodded.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some students to attend to…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

At around 1 pm, it was finally time for the actual tournament to begin. Carmen and Miguel's yaya quickly shuffled into the arena, and Carmen watched nervously as Miguel, Hawk, Johnny and Jimmy lightly trained as they waited for the quarter finals to start as they wanted to keep Miguel and Hawk's bodies warm and their heart rates up.

"There he is!" Miguel's yaya exclaimed as she pointed at Miguel and clapped gleefully. Carmen wasn't as happy though. She was extremely nervous, more so than last year, despite the fact that Miguel was much more well-trained and prepared. Miguel's yaya noticed, and she chuckled. "What's the problem now?"

"I'm nervous. These are the same people who broke Miguel's back and shoulder! Why aren't you nervous!"

"This isn't like the school fight. This is a tournament. It is controlled." Yaya answered. "Relax! Miggy's gonna do great!"

At that moment, Amanda and Anthony sat down next to them, and Carmen smiled and nodded at them in greeting.

"Hey. Good luck to Miguel today." Amanda said.

"Yeah, good luck too to Samantha." Carmen replied.

"Hopefully this whole mess ends today and that monster leaves town." Amanda stated. Carmen laughed.

"Let's hope so." Carmen replied, before the two of them turned their attention to the mat, where the announcer Ron stepped onto the mat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 2019 All-Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament!" He exclaimed. "Wow! What a crowd we got here today! I hope all of you are ready, because we are in for a treat today! This tournament has everything! Without further ado, let me introduce the competing dojos. Firstly, from Reseda, it is the new home of our reigning, defending All-Valley champion. Coached by 1 of the only 2 double All-Valley champions, Eeeeeeaagggggleeeee Fang Karate!"

Miguel, Hawk, Johnny and Jimmy walked onto the mat. Miguel immediately spotted his mom and grandma in the stands and he shot a quick smile at them. His heart was pounding from nerves, but he was less nervous than he was before the prelims. The prelims were an excellent confidence booster for both him and Hawk.

"Next, fighting out of Topanga, Topanga Karate!"

Xander Stone and his sensei walked onto the mat, waving at the audience as they did. He was determined this year to become a 2 time All-Valley champ, but he wanted to do so PEACEFULLY.

"Next, fighting from Encino, California, coached by the only other two 2 time champ Daniel Larusso, give it up for Miyagi-Do!"

Everyone clapped politely as Sam and Daniel walked onto the mat. The rest of Miyagi-Do were watching from the stands, hoping and praying that their only student remaining won.

"Next, from Reseda California, our reigning champion dojo but under new ownership, the ever badass Cooooooobraaaaa Kaiiiiiii!"

"COBRA KAI! COBRA KAI! COBRA KAI!" The Cobras chanted as they sprinted onto the mat in their traditional Cobra Kai march. Kreese and Barnes led the pack, but strangely, Silver wasn't there yet. Jimmy turned to Johnny.

"Where's Silver?" He asked, nervously.

"I don't know." Johnny murmured back.

"I don't like this. I have a feeling he's up to something." Jimmy whispered. Johnny shook his head.

"You're being paranoid." Johnny stated. Jimmy shrugged.

"Maybe. I just can't shake the feeling…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Diaz, listen up!" A guard bellowed at Miguel's dad, who quickly walked over to him in the prison yard. Standing next to the guard was the head of the prison.

"What can I do for you, sir?" Miguel's father asked. The man nodded at him.

"Congratulations. Due to your exemplary behavior and your excellent service in inmate work, you have been approved for a day out of the prison."

"I have?" Miguel's dad asked, putting on a face of mock-confusion. He knew exactly what was going on. Kreese had told him all about this.

"Yes, you have. I must say. I have had inmates get a day out for funerals, baptisms, but never their kid's karate tournament. You're lucky, Diaz. You have some serious backing coming from somewhere."

Well, yes he did. He had one of the richest businessmen in the country named Terry Silver offering to pump a ton of money into the prison if his day out was granted.

"Thank you so much, sir." Miguel's father said, smiling widely.

"Just remember the rules, Mr. Diaz. You have a guard with you at every step the entire day, and he is ready to cut your day short if you try anything. At the end of the day, you come right back here. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good, now let's go." The guard told him, before cuffing Miguel's dad and walking him out of the prison, where a black SUV was waiting. The two of them got into the guard, and the driver turned to them.

"Mr. Silver. It's a pleasure." The guard said. He knew exactly who Terry Silver was. He was one of the richest men in the city and he had donated A LOT of money into the prison.

"The pleasure is all mine." Silver replied, before turning to Miguel's dad. "Now, you ready to watch your son compete?"

**Okay, don't worry. Miguel's dad is NOT escaping from prison as I know some will be wondering. He is still going to be a minor character.**


	35. Chapter 35

**_CHAPTER 35_ **

“All right! The time has finally come to announce the matchups and the bracket for the quarter finals of this year’s All-Valley!” Ron announced. The 8 fighters and their respective senseis all stood on the mat, waiting nervously to hear who they would be fighting.    
  
“The first quarter final will be none other than the All Valley champ himself Eagle-Fang’s Miguel Diaz against a first-time competitor, from Cobra Kai, Shawn Payne!!!!”   
  
Both Miguel and Johnny winced. After Robby, Shawn was probably the worst person Miguel could have drawn. Shawn was almost definitely on steroids or something. He had become insanely muscular in an extremely short period of time, his new build and height not dissimilar to that of Lebron James. Kreese and Shawn both leered at Johnny and Miguel, and Miguel closed his eyes, trying to stay calm but in reality, he was freaking out. Johnny put a hand on his shoulder.

  
“You got this.” Johnny murmured to him. Miguel nodded.

  
“The next quarter final matchup…” Ron announced, opening a slip of paper. “Ooh, this one’s going to be good! We have got our two remaining female competitors, Samantha Larusso from Miyagi-Do and Tory Nichols from Cobra Kai, the winner of whom taking on the winner of the Diaz vs. Payne fight in Semi Final 1!”   
  
The Eagle-Fangs’ jaws dropped and they all looked over at Sam and Daniel, whose faces had paled, and then looked at Tory, who looked extremely hungry for the fight. That was NOT going to be a clean fight.    
  
Up in the stands, as soon as Amanda heard the matchup, she was about to stand up and object but she quickly felt herself pulled back by Carmen.

“Don’t do it. You’ll make it worse.” Carmen whispered to her. Amanda shook her head, furiously. 

  
“I can’t let my daughter fight that monster!” Amanda exclaimed.

  
“There’s nothing you can do. Don’t worry. It’s all very controlled. You’ve got a referee, 2 senseis from your dojo and 2 senseis from Miguel’s that will step in if something is about to happen. Samantha’s going to be fine.”   
  
Amanda took a deep calming breath and nodded.    
  
“Yeah, you’re right. It’ll be fine.” Amanda mumbled to herself, before turning her attention back to the mat.

“Those are the left half of the bracket. The first quarter final matchup of the right half of the bracket is… from Eagle-Fang dojo, one of last year’s semi finalists, Hawk!!!”   
  
Hawk nodded and looked on extremely nervously. There were three people he could be facing, and two of them are people that he had hoped he wouldn’t have to fight until at least the semi finalists. Please let him draw Xander. That Topanga pussy was his best bet at making it to the semis. He knew that Robby was a better fighter than him, and he knew that fighting Kyler would bring back all of those freshman year bullying memories and possibly compromise his performance. 

“Fighting against Hawk, from the Cobra Kai dojo, Kyler Seo!”   
  
Hawk clenched his jaw in anger as he stared down at Kyler. Kyler’s grin slightly faded when Hawk locked eyes with him. Hawk’s beatdown of Brucks was still fresh in his mind.

  
“Leaving the final quarter final as Cobra Kai’s last year’s finalist Robby Keene, against Topenga’s Karate Xander Stone, the winner of whom to fight the winner of Hawk against Kyler in Semi Final 2.”   
  
As each dojo took in their various matchups, one thing was clear: Kreese had clearly rigged the matchups in his favour! Why else would Sam, Hawk and Miguel be fighting the mentally and physically toughest opponents, while Robby took on an absolute wimp?!    
  
“Okay, we’re going to take a 10 minute break, but after that, Miguel Diaz and Shawn Payne are going to battle it out here on mat 1. See you in 10 minutes folks!”   
  
Once they were officially on break, the Eagle Fangs turned to each other, furious.

  
“This is fucked up!” Miguel exclaimed. “Kreese clearly picked and chose each match up to be best for the Cobras.”   
  
“Excuse me?” A voice came from behind them. The Eagle Fangs spun around to face Kreese, and Johnny immediately shoved him, his face red with rage.

  
“Was this your plan all along?!” Johnny shouted. “Threaten the All-Valley into rigging the matchups in your favor?!”   
  
“I resent that accusation.” Kreese said, calmly and calculated. “I would never disgrace the name of this great establishment and…”   
  
Johnny didn’t let Kreese finish his sentence. He shoved Kreese backwards again, and Kreese stumbled back, but the villain didn’t lose his evil expression. He merely chuckled.

  
“Now, now, Johnny. I recommend you don’t lay another hand on me. You wouldn’t want to get thrown out and force your students to fight without a sensei, would you?”   
  
Johnny forced himself to calm down as he knew Kreese was right. Now that they had a bracket, there was no chance in hell he was leaving his students alone. Kreese smiled.   
  
“Good choice. Besides, Diaz doesn’t seem to be complaining. He looks a little… preoccupied.”   
  
Johnny turned around to look at Miguel, and his eyes widened when he saw the expression on Miguel’s face. Miguel did NOT look okay. His face was as white as a sheet, and he looked like he was about to hurl. His eyes, wide as saucers, were fixed on one person in the front row of the stands. Johnny followed Miguel’s gaze to the person he was looking at, and when he saw who it was, his skin crawled…

It was Miguel’s dad! Somehow, he had gotten out of jail, and he was sitting right in the stands.

  
“What’s… what’s… what’s he doing here?” Miguel eventually stammered when he got over the worst of his shock. Johnny scowled.

  
“I don’t know. Son of a bitch is meant to be in jail.” Johnny growled, and he stormed over to the man.    
  
He made it over to Miguel’s dad moments later, who smiled and waved at him.   
  
“What did I tell you would happen if I ever saw you again?” Johnny snarled, as he drew his fist back, ready to punch the crap out of the man. Before he could though, a guard stepped in front of him. That’s when Johnny realised… Miguel’s father was still in jail. He was wearing handcuffs that proved just that. But somehow, he had convinced the prison to let him out for the day.    
  
Johnny turned around and saw Silver, who had now rejoined Barnes and Kreese, and the tall monster blew him a kiss mockingly. Johnny’s hands balled into fists again.   
  
“Oh hell no.” He growled, and he took off across the arena. However, rather than charging at the three Cobra Kai senseis, he stormed straight into the All-Valley committee office at the corner of the room.   
  
“What the hell is wrong with you guys?!” Johnny shouted. The All-Valley committee looked at him, shocked.   
  
“Mr. Lawrence? Is something wrong?” One of them asked. Johnny scowled.   
  
“You’re damn right something’s wrong! Why the hell is a convicted felon in the stands?!”   
  
“Is this about Mr. Diaz? Yeah, the prison let him out for a day to watch his son defend his All-Valley crown, less than a year after breaking his back. It’s great, isn’t it?”   
  
“Yeah, great.” Johnny chuckled mirthlessly. “You seriously think it’s good idea for a man who traumatised his child and was arrested on numerous charges of child abuse to be allowed within 5 feet of said child? You don’t think this is taking a toll on my kid?”   
  
“He was arrested for child abuse?” One of the All-Valley members asked in a small voice. That’s when Johnny realised… 

“You don’t know, do you? What he did to Miguel.” Johnny stated. “That man terrorised my step-son. He even tried to kill him. You don’t know how many nightmares Miguel has had about that man, and you just let him out of jail and let him back into Miguel’s life?!”   
  
The All-Valley committee members looked at each other, nervous and in shock.

  
“I guess we could ask him to leave.” One of the members eventually said.    
  
“Hold on one moment.” A voice came from the entrance of the room, and Kreese himself walked in. Johnny scowled at him but forced himself to keep his hands to himself. “Esteemed All-Valley committee. My name is…”   
  
“John Kreese. Yes. Cobra Kai sensei. We know.” One of the members said. Kreese nodded.   
  
“Yeah. I don’t know how many of you know this but I was in the Vietnam War, and I was actually taken hostage by enemy forces so I know one or two things about being imprisoned. I remember sitting in my cell in ‘Nam, watching and listening to screams of pain from my fellow captive soldiers around me as they were being killed. You have a single light bulb on the ceiling, your only source of light in the dark, dank hole. You watch it as it flickers. Flickers. Flickers. You are captivated by it. It is your only source of entertainment and will be until the day the Vietnamese finally show mercy and just pull the trigger on you. Slowly, day by day, you feel the cell getting smaller. Shrinking. The walls closing in. It becomes harder and harder to breathe. That last string of sanity inside you finally snaps, and you go completely insane. But the worst part… there is nothing you can do. You are never going to leave that cell. You eat there, sleep there, shit there, die there. Mr. Diaz is going to die in prison, there is no doubt of that. He has life without parole. And his last wish was to see his son do karate one time before he died. As human beings, don’t we owe him that at least?”   
  
Kreese was an expert spokesperson, there was no doubt about that. The way he spoke so manipulatively yet eloquently… it was definitely unrivalled by Johnny. Sure enough, Mr. Diaz was allowed to stay, and Johnny slammed the door as he stormed out of the room. He walked over to Miguel, who looked at him hopefully.

  
“So…?” Miguel asked, tentatively. Johnny sighed and shook his head.

  
“I’m sorry, kid.” He murmured. “I tried.”   
  
Miguel nodded and put his head in his hands. He was a mess, but before he could say anything and start to process this, he was called back to the mat for his quarter final match with Shawn. Miguel’s heart was pounding even more now, and he felt like he was about to throw up. As he walked back towards the mat, Johnny looked at him, extremely worried. He could tell his student’s head was NOWHERE NEAR in the right place, and he was probably not even at his half capacity.

Miguel said a quick silent prayer before stepping onto the mat, listening to the cheering of the crowd. Shawn joined him moments later, a ref and the announcer immediately stepping between them to prevent an early altercation. Meanwhile, the other dojos had taken their seats in the side of the stands. As Daniel and Sam took their place in the stands, they watched on nervously. They knew exactly who was in the stands, and they couldn’t believe he had been allowed out. However, a more pressing thing on their minds was Sam’s upcoming match with Tory.

  
As Miguel and Shawn stood facing the audience, the announcer held the microphone up.

  
“ITTTTTTT’S TIMMEEEEEEEE!” Ron exclaimed gleefully. “All right, before we start, Miguel, Shawn, do you two have anything to say about each other and your upcoming fight?”   
  
“Miggy Mouse, you want to start?” Shawn spat, trying to insult Miguel. Miguel merely rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  
“No, please. Ladies first.” He coolly replied. Shawn’s face flushed red with rage. 

“All I’m gonna say is I’m gonna thank him that he and I have never properly fought before, because if we did, he’d be in a box in the ground and I’d be in a cell.” Shawn snarled. Miguel chuckled.   
  
“Mate… shut the fuck up.” Miguel drawled in reply. The announcer quickly pulled the mic away from them as he could tell things were getting heated.    
  


“All right! Are you guys ready for the fight?!”   
  
The crowd all cheered, but Ron shook his head.   
  
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you guys over the sound of a butterfly flapping its wings. I said ARE YOU READY FOR THE FIGHT?!!!!”   
  
The audience cheered a lot more. This year, the All-Valley were clearly making the tournament less of a competition, and more of an event. It was a lot more of a spectacle, with the trash talking, the announcing and everything. However, there was absolutely nothing more to do than fight, so the referee and the two fighters prepared for the fight ahead.

“All right. Bow!” The referee instructed. Miguel and Shawn rather reluctantly bowed to each other, and moments later, the fight began…


	36. Chapter 36

As Miguel had expected, Shawn immediately lunged at Miguel in offense, but Miguel expertly dodged him, before throwing a sweep at Shawn's leg. Any normal person would go down at that, but Shawn wasn't at all fazed, let alone tripped up. With Miguel off-balance, Shawn charged at him again, tackled him, and laid a vicious kick to Miguel's stomach. As he was about to continue pummelling Miguel, the ref quickly pulled him away and helped Miguel up.

**Miguel 0-1 Shawn**

As the fight restarted, Miguel was a lot more careful this time. Fighting Shawn was physically harder than even fighting Johnny and Daniel. At 6'4 and 6'3 respectively, both Johnny and Daniel were nowhere near Shawn's height and build. It was like Miguel was fighting a silverback gorilla!

Miguel glanced at the stands, and he saw his father grinning and clapping his hands for Shawn. Miguel closed his eyes and his father's sadistic, twisted tone came rushing into his ears.

" _YOU'RE SOFT, BOY? JUST LIKE HER!"_

That brief moment of distraction gave Shawn the opportunity he needed. Miguel had briefly lowered his arms, which allowed Shawn to send a crushing uppercut to Miguel's chin, sending Miguel flying backwards and landing in a heap on the ground.

**Miguel 0-2 Shawn**

"Oh, wow! Who would have thought? It's 2-0 in favour of our first time competitor. We are one more point away from definitely having a new champion this year!"

Miguel limped over to his corner, where Johnny, Jimmy and Hawk were standing. Miguel shook his head.

"I'm so sorry, Sensei. I can't do this. He's just sitting there, watching me. I can't… I can't. I'm sorry." Miguel whispered, his head in his hands in shame. The pressure from the past 6 months was all piling on him. Despite all of the expectations for him to do well, he was about to be knocked out in the first round!

"Hey, Miguel, listen to me!" Johnny said, holding Miguel up by his shoulders. "I have an idea."

"What is it? Anything." Miguel begged.

"As much as it kills me to say this, maybe it's time for you to take a page out of the Larusso Miyagi-Do playbook." Johnny said. "Clear your mind. Forget your anger and emotion towards Cobra Kai. Towards your dad. Only focus on the task at hand."

Miguel clenched his jaw, determined, and nodded.

"Got it." Miguel said, before walking back towards the middle of the mat. As he prepared for the fight, Miguel closed his eyes, tuning out everyone and everything around him. It was no longer the All-Valley. It was just him sparring with Johnny in the forest.

The fight restarted, and this time, with Miguel using a completely different strategy, he dodged every blow Shawn sent his way. He dodged, weaved, slithered, every tactic he knew to evade the attacks. However, he knew this couldn't last forever. He was quickly tiring himself out, and he knew that if he wanted any chance of staying in this tournament, he needed to attack too. But what to do? Hitting Shawn to the body barely did any damage. It was like a bee stinging an elephant - all it did was anger him. Suddenly, rather than his dad, this time it was Johnny's words rushed back into Miguel's head.

" _It's time for you to take a page out of the Larusso Miyagi-Do playbook"_

Johnny, you genius! Miguel knew exactly what to do! As Shawn sent a vicious hook punch at Miguel's head, Miguel intercepted it by punching him to the armpit, using Daniel's pressure point tactics that he had taught them while they were training together. He completely immobilised Shawn's left arm, and as Shawn sent a punch with the right, he immobilised that one too. However, his next move was different to Daniel's. Rather than taking him to his knees and punching him, Miguel sent his signature kick, the spinning Tornado Kick, right at the side of Shawn's head. It connected with a sickening THUD, and Shawn collapsed to the ground, knocked completely out cold.

As soon as Miguel hit the kick, he turned around and locked eyes with his father. The man's grin had completely faded, and Miguel sent him a terrifying look that said YOU'RE NEXT!

Miguel stumbled back over to Johnny's corner and he watched as Shawn didn't even stir for several moments. He was definitely breathing so Miguel didn't kill him, but there was NO way Shawn was fighting for the next little while. Eventually, the ref did the only thing he could and walked over to Miguel.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, by way of TKO, moving on to the semi finals, last year's champ, Miggueeeeeeel Diiiiiazzzzz!"

Miguel's hand was raised in the air by the referee in triumph, and Miguel smiled faintly. Thank God! He was through to the semi finals. He hugged Johnny as the four Eagles celebrated, and Johnny turned towards Daniel. The Miyagi-Do sensei had obviously seen what Miguel had just done. He had used his tactics to win the fight, and there was no way he could have done so without them. Johnny nodded to Johnny and mouthed 'thank you.' Daniel smiled and nodded back.

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The next fight of the day was arguably the biggest fight of the tournament. It was the long awaited rematch of Sam vs. Tory. The two had faced off various times before. Sam had won their first encounter in the school fight. Tory had won the second when Sam was too scared to face her in the laser tag arena. Sam had won the third in the Larusso house. It was round 4, hopefully the last one, of this endless war they were in.

As Tory got ready for the match, sparring with Barnes, Sam watched her and started to tremble. Seeing her and knowing that they were about to fight was sending her on the verge of a panic attack. Daniel noticed and he immediately turned to his daughter, taking her hands in his.

"Hey, Sam? Listen to me, okay? Listen to me. I'm not going to lie to you, this isn't going to be an easy fight. I remember full-well what it's like fighting someone you're absolutely terrified of from my time fighting Barnes. But here's what I want you to do. Whenever you start to feel fear taking over, I want you to stop and think about a good memory of karate. Whether it be with me, with Johnny's dojo, with… Miguel. Any good times you've had through karate. Can you do that for me?"

Sam nodded, calming down considerably, a determined expression now plastered on her face.

"Let's do it." She declared.

The first person to score a point in the fight was Tory. She lunged at Sam, straight out the gate, and took her down, punching Sam in the face and stomach several times before the ref pulled her away.

Sam wasn't out though. She quickly fired back, scoring a point with a single side kick to Tory's chest. It was 1-1 within less than a minute of the fight.

Johnny and Miguel sat next to each other in the stands, Miguel pressing an ice pack to his shoulder, and they watched the fight.

"Who do you want to win the fight?" Johnny asked. "Keep in mind, you're going to be fighting the winner in the semis."

"I don't know." Miguel murmured. "From a selfish perspective, I want Tory to win as it'll be easier to fight her in the semis than fight Sam. But from a team perspective, obviously I want Sam to win as it's one less Kreese soldier."

"Both not great options, huh? Your two ex-girlfriends?" Johnny remarked. Miguel chuckled.

"Yeah. It's almost as if someone rigged it to be this way." Miguel shot back. Johnny laughed and the two of them refocussed on the fight. Both girls had scored yet another point each, making the score 2-2 and causing a tie-breaker.

"I'm going to kill you, bitch." Tory growled in Sam's ear as Sam walked back to her corner to prepare for the final round. As Sam looked into Tory's eyes, she saw… nothing. No emotion. Just cold, unblinking eyes. She knew, in that moment, that there was no way in hell Tory was stopping at the win. She could feel stress and panic coming on, and it only increased as she scoured her brain for more good memories of Karate but coming up short. She had used them all up. As the panic crawled up from the pit of her stomach, up to her chest, up to her throat. She spun around on the spot, trying desperately to think of another good idea, and her eyes locked on Miguel. He was watching her intently. He could tell something was up. He smiled at her and mouthed her a silent message...

"You got this." He said. She smiled and suddenly, all of the stress and panic in her disappeared. Miguel had that effect on her. He could easily calm her down during even the worst of her anxiety. She clenched her fists into balls and prepared for the final round of the fight.

Obviously, Tory wasted no time charging at her with a flurry of kicks and punches. Sam dodged all of them though, and one minute later, the referee was raising her hand in triumph. Miguel, along with the rest of the arena, clapped and cheered for her. They all got to see Tory fighting extremely dirtily, and Sam coming out on top was heartwarming for all of them, even though a lot of them didn't know the deep history behind the 2.

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The next two fights were both breezes. First of all, Hawk took on Kyler in a long-awaited fight between them. Kyler always seemed to be focussed on fighting Miguel in the past, so he had often overlooked Hawk. But after their fight, Hawk did NOT let him forget who he was. Hawk won the fight 3-1, but in the process, he absolutely brutalised Kyler, almost as bad as Miguel beat up Shawn. Kyler wasn't knocked out by the end, but he was groaning in pain and rolling around on the ground in pain, blood dripping onto the mat from a gash on his head.

Robby's fight was even easier than Hawk's. He was fighting Xander, and although the boy was technically an All-Valley champion, he was a million steps behind Robby in the actual fight. Eagle-Fang and Miyagi-Do watched in shock and horror as Robby displayed all of his skills. He was a striker far superior than any of them. He struck faster and harder than any of them ever had, and he sure as hell wasn't showing any mercy. He won the fight 3-0, advancing to the semi finals against Hawk.

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"All right! Ladies and Gentlemen, the quarter finals of this year's All-Valley championship are officially over. We have our four semi finalists right here. Fighting out of Eagle-Fang, Hawk and Miguel Diaz!"

Ron stood next to Hawk and Miguel, who both raised a hand to wave at the crowd. The crowd were having an amazing time at the tournament this year. It had been the most entertaining tournament many of them had ever been to.

"And, fighting out of Miyagi-Do Karate, Samantha Larusso!"

Sam nodded at the crowd, still placing a tissue over the left side of her face, which contained a scar on her cheek.

"And finally, putting on an absolute clinic during his quarter final matchup, fighting out of Cobra Kai Karate, Robby Keene!"

Robby didn't acknowledge the audience any more than a mere nod. In all honesty, everyone was slightly scared of him, and what he might do. He was absolutely ruthless in the prelims and quarter finals, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, and everyone was wary and sympathetic of his next victim.

"So, next up will be our All-Valley champion, fresh off his TKO win, Miguel Diaz, against Samantha Larusso! After that, Hawk will be taking on Keene in what will surely be an absolutely class fight! But first, we're going to take another 10 minute break."

The dojos all immediately split up. It was the final 4 now, and it was the 4 they always knew it would be: Hawk, Sam, Miguel and Robby.

Carmen and Amanda looked at each other, slightly nervous, when they heard who their children were fighting.

"Oof. I guess our kids are fighting, huh?" Amanda remarked. "That's bound to be an awkward fight."

Carmen chuckled.

"Yeah, it will be. But I tell you, I'd rather Miguel be fighting Sam than fighting any of those Cobra Kais. I swear, they are trying to kill them! This is crazy!"

Amanda nodded.

"Yup. Welcome to the club." She remarked. Carmen didn't respond. She had suddenly seen someone in the front row of the stands who made her face turn crimson with fury: her ex-husband. Before she could control herself, she had stormed to her feet, Miguel's yaya close behind her, and she stormed over to her. He grinned evilly when he saw her.

"Aah. Carmen. Long time, no see. You still look radia…"

SLAP! Carmen sent a vicious slap across the face of an unsuspecting Mr. Diaz.

"HOW DARE YOU COME HERE!" She shouted. Quickly, the prison guard intervened, and All-Valley security came closely after, dragging Carmen and Miguel's yaya out of the arena forcefully. Johnny and Miguel watched as the event occurred, and Johnny turned to Miguel, who looked strangely calm.

"You good? You want me to go after them?" He asked. Miguel shook his head.

"No point. I can't think about them. I need to focus on this next fight."

Before Miguel knew it, he was being called to his feet, and he walked over to the mat, where he faced Sam.

"Okay, guys. You know the drill. Anything you'd like to say to each other before the fight?" Ron asked, hoping for some more fiery trash talk like in the first round. He got none of that though. Miguel and Sam had too much history behind them for that.

"Not really. I just want to say may the best fighter win, and whoever wins, no hard feelings." Miguel said, holding out a hand for Sam to shake. Sam nodded.

"Good luck." She said, not sarcastically but genuinely. Slightly disappointed, Ron left the mat, and moments later, the fight commenced…


	37. Chapter 37

The fight started off relatively slowly. Both Sam and Miguel were hesitant to throw the first punch. Neither wanted to be the one to start the fight. They circled each other like lions, but neither lunged in for the kill.

"Attack, Miguel!" Johnny bellowed, loud enough for Miguel to hear but not loud enough for the crowd. "Forget who you're fighting! Pretend you're fighting a Cobra! Tear her apart!"

Daniel, who was standing a couple of feet away as he was coaching his daughter, glared at Johnny. Miguel heard Johnny and nodded. He finally lunged, but rather than throwing a kick or punch, he grabbed her by her gi and judo flipped her, slamming her onto the mat and then throwing a light punch to her stomach to earn himself the point. He obviously didn't go further than that, as he had won the point and didn't want to injure her.

**Miguel 1-0 Sam**

Sam was extremely winded as Miguel helped her to her feet, but she quickly recovered as she walked back to her corner. Miguel's heart was pounding so he closed his eyes to calm himself down. He could almost hear Daniel's shout from a couple of months ago the day Miyagi-Do and Eagle-Fang split up

" _YOU HIT MY DAUGHTER?!"_

Daniel's words echoed through his mind. Although this time it was entirely business, Miguel was still taken back to the night of the party, when Miguel struck Sam across the face.

As Miguel stood next to Johnny and Sam stood next to Daniel, both senseis whispered instructions into their child's ear. This fight meant a lot to them, even if it wasn't going to be a dirty fight. It was the ultimate test of whose tactics were better: Miyagi-Do or Eagle-Fang. Miguel hoped from foot to foot, shaking out his limbs to loosen himself up. He knew that Sam would be quickly retaliating as soon as the fight restarted so he got his instructions from Johnny before walking back onto the mat.

"LET'S GO MIGUEL!" Johnny, Jimmy and Hawk bellowed.

"YOU GOT THIS, SAM!" All of the Miyagi-Dos in the stands cheered. Miguel and Sam nodded at each other and the fight restarted…

This time, the fight was a lot faster-paced than before. Miguel lunged at Sam but she definitely held her own, throwing her own combination of kicks that sent Miguel stumbling back as he dodged them. She used this opportunity to follow-up her attack with a side kick to Miguel's stomach.

**Miguel 1-1 Sam**

As Miguel walked back to his corner, Johnny could tell that he was extremely distracted. He didn't blame him. He knew that if tomorrow he was asked to fight Carmen, even if it had absolutely no hard feelings, he would struggle massively.

"Hey. Listen, Miguel." Johnny said. "You need to forget who you're fighting."

"Easier said than done." Miguel murmured.

"Come on, Miguel! You're the one who always calls me out on my shit when I'm being sexist! Don't tell me you're being a hypocrite!"  
"It's not that she's a girl, and you know that." Miguel muttered. "It's who exactly I'm fighting."

Johnny sighed and nodded.

"You're thinking about that time you punched her, right?" Johnny remarked.

"Yeah." Miguel admitted. "But that's not the biggest problem. She knows exactly what I'm going to do before I even do it. She counters every technique I use."

"So flip the script." Hawk suddenly chimed in. Miguel turned to him.

"Huh?" Miguel asked, at a loss.

"You flip the script." Hawk repeated. "Don't do what first comes to mind. Do something nobody sees coming. Something completely unexpected."

"He's right." Johnny said. Miguel nodded and rubbed his hands together.

"Okay. Let's do this." He growled, before jumping back onto the mat. Sam stepped onto the mat shortly after, and the two circled each other once again. Miguel did what he was told: he did the opposite of everything that first came to mind. That started with him approaching Sam with both hands not guarding his head, but limp beside him. Daniel and Sam both saw that and were instantly cautious. Sam didn't charge at him immediately as she tried to smoke out what his move would be. She found out soon enough. She sent a hook punch to Miguel's head, which he immediately ducked under and slithered so that he was directly behind her. Rather than kicking or punching Sam to the back of the head like he would normally do, he forced himself to flip the script. He wrapped his arms around Sam's midsection in a bearhug from behind and he suplexed her, an extremely powerful wrestling move Johnny had taught him, and he threw her so she landed on the ground flat on her stomach. He could've easily made it so she landed on her neck and got severely injured, but he made the extra effort not to do that. Besides, landing flat on her face hurt just as much.

**Miguel 2-1 Sam**

Match Point Miguel. He was one point from a second trip to the All-Valley finals. He could practically taste it. 6 months of training and he was one final small step away. Miguel listened to the crowd cheering for him. Around half the arena was supporting him, and half were supporting Sam, so he did get a fair number of cheers.

Sam was extremely winded after being roughly thrown to the ground like that, but she forced herself to continue to fight. Miguel could tell he was closing in on a victory. He spent a full minute just sending half-assed blows at Sam, tiring her out even further as she dodged and weaved to avoid the hits. Finally, she saw an opening. As Miguel sent a punch at her, she slapped his arm upwards, and then she immobilised it with a quick pressure point punch to the bottom of his arm. She did the same thing to the other within seconds.

Daniel smiled as he saw his daughter about to strike, but his smile faded when he glanced down the line at Johnny, who was also grinning. His eyes widened. Johnny and his dojo had planned for something like this! They knew how much Miyagi-Do relied on that move, so Johnny had taught them how to reverse it!

"Sam, back up!" Daniel tried to shout to his daughter, but she couldn't hear him. She had already been lured in. Miguel's arms were pinned to his sides and she was about to score a point! However, just as she raised an arm to punch him, before she could react, Miguel slithered sideways and sent a turning back kick to Sam's kidney, sending her falling to the ground.

**Miguel (WINNER) 3-1 Sam**

He had done it! He had won! HE WAS GOING TO THE FINALSSSSS! Miguel started to process all of this information as he helped Sam up. The two of them bowed and then hugged, before walking off the mat and over to their respective senseis. When Miguel got to Johnny, the two of them grinned widely.

"We're back in the finals." Miguel grinned.

"BACK IN THE FINALSSSSS!" Johnny bellowed in delight, hugging Miguel tightly. Hawk, Jimmy and Bobby (who had just joined them in their corner) all congratulated Miguel, cheering and chanting his name. Sam, Julie and Daniel watched this celebration and sighed.

"He won fairly. He was better." Sam stated, glumly. Daniel nodded and smiled.

"Hey, don't be disheartened! You did good today! You took on Tory and won! You went four rounds with the reigning champion. I call that a win. I'm so proud of you, Sam." Daniel said. Sam smiled at her dad and nodded.

"Thanks, dad." She replied. "Now, can I get some ice or something? When he threw me to the ground for his second point, I hit my face pretty hard."

"Yeah, what the hell was that?!" Julie exclaimed. "You can't do that in karate!"

"It's called a suplex, and yes you can." A voice came from behind them. They turned around to see Miguel standing there.

"Miguel? What do you want?" Daniel asked.

"I wanted to say good fight today." Miguel said. "That was a really close fight. It could've easily gone either way."

"Thanks, Miguel. You deserved the win though. You fought great today." Sam replied.

"No hard feelings?" Miguel asked. Sam smiled and nodded.

"No hard feelings." She replied. Miguel then walked back to his dojo's corner of the mat.

It was time for the second semi final, another blockbuster clash that was Hawk vs. Robby. The last time they had faced off was in last year's tournament. That clash could've easily gone either way, but Hawk's antics had gotten him disqualified. This year though, Hawk had the same aggression, but he had learned how to channel it into his actual fighting, rather than into dirty tactics. THAT was what Eagle-Fang was all about. They didn't cleanse themselves of anger like Miyagi-Do did. They channeled it into their fighting making them ruthless but not merciless.

5 minutes later, Hawk and Robby were told to step onto the mat for their matchup. The two of them glared daggers at each other, as Ron stood in between them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, get ready for our second semi final matchup! Cobra Kai dojo's Robby Keene against Eagle-Fang karate's Hawk!" Ron announced to the crowd. "Now, these two have faced off before. Roby Keene came out on top last year by disqualification, but I can tell, I can see that Hawk wants to even that score. Hawk, what do you have to say to Robby?"

"You know, I'm fighting today to come and shut this man up. This little rat. The little weasel. Thinks he's a big man because of the dojo around him but when faced on his own, he cowers away." Hawk growled. Robby rolled his eyes and didn't even warrant a response.

The two of them took their sides of the mat and the ref officially began the match.

"LET'S GO HAWK!" Miguel shouted, banging his hands on the corner of the mat to drum up support. As soon as the ref stepped away from in between them, they both lunged at each other.

This fight was hands down the most entertaining fight to watch in All-Valley history. The two of them were some of the best acrobats the tournament had ever seen, and they took advantage of every single flip, throw, punch, kick and skill in their arsenals. Robby scored the first point, pummelling Hawk on the ground until the ref pulled him off. Hawk, however, was not fazed at all. If anything, he was more determined. Hawk scored the next 2 points, sending Robby stumbling backwards in shock. It was 2-1 in favour of Hawk, and Hawk was 1 point away from the first single dojo final in All-Valley history. One point away from ridding Kreese from their lives forever. So close, yet so far. Robby turned on the afterburners right there, sending Hawk flying backwards with an acrobatic backflip dodge, followed by a gorgeous dropkick.

2-2. Things were completely even. Robby stumbled back to the Cobra Kai corner, and Hawk limped back to the Eagle-Fang one. After a motivational pep talk from Johnny to Hawk, and a threatening one from Kreese to Robby. Robby was secretly extremely nervous. He had no doubt that he was fighting on the wrong side. He knew that Kreese would make him regret it if he didn't win the All-Valley, and that was NOT someone he wanted to be trained by. However, his bigger enemy, Miguel, was fighting for Eagle-Fang, and he needed to fight him.

The final point of the matchup was heart stoppingly intense. Both guys exchanged heavy blows, but the one who landed the winning hit was unfortunately, Robby. Robby managed to trip Hawk up and kick him to the side of the face, earning his 3rd point.

There it was. The final settled. It was Robby vs. Miguel…


	38. Chapter 38

"Man, I'm sorry. That was so unlucky. You deserved to win." Miguel said to Hawk after the fight, as they walked over to the water fountain. Hawk was pissed. He really wanted that win, and he was so close too.

"Dude, I was so close." Hawk groaned, punching the wall in frustration.

"Hey, if it's any consolation, you definitely helped me out! You've weakened him A LOT." Miguel stated. Hawk nodded.

"You better win now, Miguel!" Hawk exclaimed. Miguel chuckled.

"Yeah, I'll try." Miguel laughed, before seriousness taking over again. "All right, I think we gotta go."

Hawk nodded and they walked back to Johnny, Jimmy and Bobby, preparing for the finals. As they walked back, they spied all of Cobra Kai on the opposite side of the arena, all of them crowded around Robby. Miguel forced his eyes away from them and he joined his senseis.

Shortly after that, Miguel and Robby were finally called to the mat.

"LADIIIIESSSS AND GENTLEMENNNNN, ARE YOU READY FOR THE ALL-VALLEY FINAL?!" Ron exclaimed as he took his familiar place in between the two fighters. The whole arena cheered and clapped, eagerly awaiting the fight. 200 teenagers in the prelims had been cut down to 2.

It was an inevitable fight. Robby knew it. Miguel knew it. Johnny knew it. Kreese knew it. It was a fight that was coming from the day of last year's All-Valley.

"All right, folks! Hang onto your hats for this one! As I'm told, there is a lot of history and no love lost between these two! Diaz might have taken the All-Valley win in their fight last year, but less than three months later, Keene had his revenge when he took down Diaz in the brawl of West Valley High last year. Love triangles. Broken backs. Father issues. Everything that could possibly go wrong between the two has! Keene, do you have anything to say about Diaz before the fight?"

"All I have to say is that this guy is a dead man walking." Robby growled. "I'm gonna maul him. I'm gonna rip him limb from limb. For the past year, I have been in every single nightmare he's had, and when I'm through with him, he's gonna thank me one day in hell that I ended his life early and I spared him of 80 more years of nightmares."

Miguel almost snorted in laughter. He could tell from Robby's slightly shaky tone that this wasn't Robby talking; this was Kreese. Although the whole arena was looking at each other nervously, Miyagi-Do and Eagle-Fang especially, Miguel wasn't at all fazed.

"Diaz, any response?" Ron asked. Miguel chuckled.

"Look, man. He can talk and threaten me all he wants. Right now, I'm gonna teach him. I'm gonna humble him. And most importantly, I'm gonna walk out with the All-Valley trophy in my hands."

The crowd started cheering and making noise at this one. Almost the whole arena, bar the Cobra Kai supporters, were on his side. After a reluctant bow to each other, the two took a couple of steps back, raised their hands in fighting positions, and prepared to fight…

All of the anger. All of the hatred. All of the… envy Robby felt towards Miguel erupted inside him like a volcano. MIGUEL was the reason he had gone to juvie. MIGUEL had stolen Sam from him. Had stolen Johnny from him. The anger all came in useful, as he sent a flying side kick that connected with Miguel's side, knocking him over.

**Miguel 0 - 1 Robby**

Boos erupted through the arena and Miguel winced. He knew that the more Robby got booed, the angrier he would get, and the harder it would be to fight him. Miguel slowly got to his feet, but as he started to walk back towards his corner, Robby leaned in and whispered something in Miguel's ear.

"Vas a morir." Robby growled in spanish, literally meaning 'you are going to die.' It was one of the insults Barnes had taught him to get in Miguel's head. Miguel chuckled.

"Who taught you that one? Google Translate?" He remarked. Robby scowled at him but the ref, sensing danger, quickly stepped in between them and forced them apart before he restarted the fight.

This time, it was Miguel who got in his hit. From the very beginning of the tournament, Miguel knew that Robby was a much better striker than him. This meant that he would have to resort to other tactics if he wanted to win the fight. God Bless Johnny for teaching him how to grapple and throw! Miguel dodged one of Robby's kicks and grabbed the leg, before using the leg to pick Robby up and slam him down as hard as he could, causing the Cobra to land flat on his back in a heap. Miguel followed it up with a couple of punches to Robby's head and body to solidify his point.

**Miguel 1 - 1 Robby**

The crowd raised its volume even more, and they all stomped their feet and clapped as loud as they could in support of Miguel. Robby stumbled back to his corner, possibly concussed as he hit his head pretty hard, but Kreese didn't care. He grabbed Robby by the shoulders and shook him roughly.

"Focus, Keene!" Kreese yelled at him. "YOU CANNOT LOSE THIS FIGHT!"

Robby was then roughly shoved back onto the mat, where he faced Miguel. As he looked at the Ecuadorian, he didn't see hatred or vengeance in Miguel's eyes. He saw… pity. It was like despite everything, Miguel felt bad for him. This made Robby stop and think for possibly the thousandth time… was all of this carnage seriously work it? They were teenagers, fighting some insanely petty fight.

Robby's mind was in a complete mess as the fight restarted, and it didn't take Miguel much to score another point. Miguel took advantage of a sloppy punch by Robby and grabbed his arm, sending him over the top of Miguel in an over the back shoulder throw and onto the ground, punching him as hard as he could to knock the wind out of Robby.

**Miguel 2 - 1 Robby**

So close. So close to the title. So close to Kreese finally being kicked out of their lives. So close to Miguel finally having a normal high school life. So close to this karate war finally being over. He was a single point from victory and his heart was pounding.

As Robby stumbled back to Kreese's corner, Kreese scowled at him.

"Okay. Listen up, Keene. You're 1 point away from losing this fucking tournament, so here's what I want you to do. You destroy his back…"

Kreese whispered instructions into Robby's ear for several moments, before Robby stepped back onto the mat, ready to fight.

A full minute was spent Miguel and Robby throwing shots at each other. They were both pretty close to the bottom of their fuel tanks, so they were slightly sloppy at this point. The fight had become both of them waiting each other out for the first one to make a mistake. Unfortunately, that was Miguel. Miguel sent a head kick that Robby managed to dodge by ducking and sweeping Miguel's leg, causing Miguel to fall onto his stomach. Robby stood over Miguel, who was on his stomach, and saw as Miguel groaned in pain. Miguel's back was in the perfect position to Robby, and Kreese's instructions flashed through his mind.

" _Pin him to the ground and stomp on his back. The fight will be over for him."_

Robby looked at the boy underneath him, and then he glanced at Kreese. Kreese nodded at him to do it. He then turned to where Johnny was standing. Johnny could tell what Robby was about to, and he shook his head pleadingly. Robby then turned back to Kreese and slowly shook his head. He then sent a light punch to the back of Miguel's head to earn him the point, before holding out a hand and helping Miguel to his feet.

**Miguel 2 - 2 Robby**

As the two looked at each other, ready to go for the 5th and final round, there was something between them that they had never seen before… respect. They both had nothing but respect for one another, no matter who won the upcoming round. Unfortunately, not everyone agreed with this. As the two boys fought, the natural course of the fight took them closer to Kreese's corner of the mat. Soon, they were not any more but a foot away from Kreese, with Miguel having his back to the Cobra Kai corner. As Kreese saw Miguel the foot away, he knew what he had to do. At this rate, Miguel would be winning the All-Valley and he would be forced to leave down. He had only one option…

As Miguel blocked one of Robby's shots, Kreese sent his own kick Miguel's way, hitting him in the small of the back and causing Miguel to fall over and hit the ground immediately. The whole arena gasped and went deathly silent at this malicious act. Well, everyone but Johnny. When Johnny saw his son go down, he finally saw red and snapped.

"HEY!" Johnny shouted sprinting onto the mat and over to Kreese, tackling him and throwing him to the ground. He then sat on top of Kreese, beating every inch of the cruel old man he could reach. He was ready to kill Kreese. That man had already stolen one son from him and there was no way he was letting him lay a hand on the other. Daniel, Jimmy and Julie shot up to their feet in alarm, and raced over, but they were quickly intercepted by Silver and Barnes, who shoved them backwards. The Miyagi-Do and Eagle-Fang senseis scowled and fought back, thus triggering an all-out war between dojos…

Hawk lunged at Robby, igniting a brawl between the two. They had a lot of unfinished business between them. Tory was the next student to her feet, making a beeline towards Sam, who didn't retreat, but walked towards the fight. All of the other Cobras (bar Shawn and Kyler who were at the hospital getting medical treatment) took on all of the Miyagi-Dos and Eagle-Fangs.

The actual tournament fight between Miguel and Robby was immediately forgotten as this insane, long overdue brawl took place. The animosity leading up to this fight was even more than leading up to the school fight, and this time, even the adults were involved. Because this was meant to be a controlled tournament, there were only 3 security guards present, one of whom meant to be guarding Miguel's father and only Miguel's father, and they all immediately ran towards the adults to break up their fight. As Miguel's dad looked around, he realised that he had no guard, and this would be the perfect time to escape. Breaking his handcuffs against the side railing of the crowd balcony, Mr. Diaz was about to sprint out of the arena and make a break for freedom, when his eyes lingered on Johnny. Miguel's father's face went crimson-red with rage, and murder filled his eyes. He stormed towards Johnny, who was still attacking Kreese, and he threw him off of the old man and onto the ground. Johnny tried to defend himself but he was taken by surprise so it was too late. Mr. Diaz sat on top of him, his hands slowly squeezing around Johnny's neck, choking him to death.

As soon as Kreese had kicked Miguel in the back, Miguel had fallen over and nearly passed out. Kreese was an adult, and using all of his strength on Miguel's weakest area had caused him blinding pain. He barely even realised the brawl breaking out under shouts and yells of pain and anger completely filled the air around him. He slowly got to his feet and looked around. There were various matchups going on. The senseis were all fighting each other, and the teens were too. Miguel spotted Sam definitely holding her own against Tory, but Hawk overpowering an exhausted Robby. His eyes widened. He knew that Robby was no longer who he used to be, and he started to run in Hawk's direction to stop him, when his eyes stopped on a man in an orange jumpsuit suffocating his sensei. Miguel's eyes widened. It was his dad! Abandoning his thoughts about Robby and Hawk, Miguel started running in that direction.

"You took everything from me." Miguel's dad growled at Johnny, who was coughing and spluttering. Black spots danced over his eyes and he felt himself about to pass out. It was like a steamroller was crushing his neck.

"Please. Stop." Johnny stammered as his eyes started to close. However, suddenly, Miguel's dad felt himself roughly yanked off of Johnny, and he turned to find himself face to face with his son.

"Hey, son." His dad grinned, laughing sadistically at him. Miguel's fists balled into fists.

"You wanted this fight? You got it." Miguel growled, lunging at his dad. The two exchanged heavy blows for several minutes. Despite Miguel's karate experience, Mr. Diaz was a lot more experienced in a street fight as he had been practising in prison for 6 months. He soon managed to pin Miguel to the ground, and he was slowly constricting Miguel from his throat.

"I'm sorry, son. I didn't mean for it to end this way." His dad murmured. As Miguel struggled helplessly to get out of his father's vice-like grip, suddenly, it came to him! Miguel was thrown back to months earlier, in the forest, when Johnny made him wrestle a bear.

" _This is the technique I want you to use when you're being overpowered and pinned by someone bigger or stronger than you. First thing you gotta do is break his grip."_

Miguel remembered the bear training and he snuck his hands inside his dad's arms and pushed them outwards, causing his dad to fall with his hands on either side of his head. Miguel used his hands to trap his fathers, and he wrapped his legs around his father's stomach in the triangle choke. He remembered Johnny's next step.

" _Now, grab his left wrist and trap it on the ground, and then shoot your other hand towards the opposite side of his head, and push your upper body upwards!"  
_

Miguel did exactly as Johnny had told him and his upper body lifted half off the ground as his left arm extended so that it was next to his dad's left ear. He couldn't get up yet though as the man's right arm was blocking him. He remembered the final step…

" _Now, that left arm that you just shot up… wrap it around his arm that's pinning you. As you do this, roll to the side, pinching his back with your legs, connect your wrists, and then from there, STOP!"_

Miguel did so, pulling his father into a figure 4 armlock, just as Johnny had taught him. However, rather than showing restraint like he did with the bear, Miguel went all the way, snapping his dad's arm right out of its socket and causing the man to cry out in pain. Miguel knew that the fight was not over yet though. Miguel grabbed a metal chair that were by each dojo's corner at the mat, and he smashed the chair over his dad's head, causing him to finally collapse, unconscious. Miguel slowly got to his feet and stood over his father. He scowled at the unconscious man.

"Sorry, dad." Miguel murmured. At that moment, an Army of security guards sprinted into the arena and the fighting was finally broken up…

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"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED, KEENE?!" Kreese bellowed at Robby that evening. Nobody had been legally charged for the brawl, but the tournament was put on hold. Everyone quickly left the arena and into their respective cars.

"I'm sorry, sensei." Robby stammered, begging for forgiveness and terrified for his life. He not only disobeyed Kreese's orders during the tournament, but he had gotten beaten up during the brawl by Hawk relatively easily. "I remembered what you asked me to do, but I couldn't kill him. I can't go back to juvie!"

Kreese eventually nodded and put an arm around Robby.

"I understand, Keene. War is hard for some people. I saw it a lot with my men in 'Nam. Some of them just didn't have that killer instinct, and they were useless soldiers. But you're not like them. You have that instinct, but you just need an extra push in the right direction. Which is why I'm going to give you one last chance…"

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"Here. Put this on your face." Miguel said, tossing Johnny an ice-cold Coors from the fridge. Johnny hadn't come out of the dojo fight nearly as well as Miguel had, even though Miguel's back was still throbbing in pain. Although Johnny had managed to subdue Kreese, Miguel's dad had almost killed him that afternoon.

Johnny popped open the can and Miguel rolled his eyes.

"I said put it on your face, not drink it." Miguel stated. Johnny shrugged.

"It's helping, isn't it?" Johnny remarked. Miguel chuckled and closed his eyes for several moments, taking in the events of that day. It had been an absolutely whirlwind of a day for him, starting with his battle with Shawn, and culminating with him finally besting his dad. However, he wasn't thinking about either of those fights. He was thinking about the one in between: his fight with Robby. During the final point of the fight, right before Miguel got kicked by Kreese, he noticed forgiveness in Robby's eyes. Their rivalry had come so close to finally being over. If that stupid brawl hadn't gotten in the way, maybe they could've even found a way to shake hands and live harmoniously. Despite the brawl putting a damper on that, it did show Miguel that maybe Robby wasn't all that bad.

Miguel's long train of thoughts was broken when they heard a sharp ring of the doorbell. Miguel and Johnny looked at each other, confused.

"You expecting somebody?" Miguel asked. Johnny shook his head.

"Nah. We were meant to be out celebrating your championship right now. Why would I have invited someone over?" Johnny stated. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"That seems kinda premature." Miguel remarked as they walked over to the door. When they opened it, their hearts stopped… standing at the door was none other than Kreese himself!

Johnny immediately started to raise his hands and lunge at Kreese, but Kreese raised his hands in surrender and Miguel held Johnny back.

"YOU DARE COME TO MY HOUSE?!" Johnny shouted.

"Johnny, stop!" Miguel snapped. Johnny slowly calmed down, and then Miguel turned to Kreese. "What do you want?" Miguel spat at the old man. Kreese smiled.

"Well, given that none of your students won the All-Valley, I believe I have the right to stay in town for as long as I want."

"This was your plan, wasn't it?! To challenge us to a game but pull the plug the second we pull ahead?!" Johnny shouted. Kreese chuckled.

"Easy, Johnny. One of these days, that temper of yours is gonna do you harm. Especially when I'm here baring gifts."

"Excuse me?" Miguel asked, echoing Johnny's confusion.

"I want to give you an opportunity." Kreese stated. "An opportunity for you to baish me from this city once and for all. If you, Miguel, manage to beat Robby in a fight, I will leave town forever. Cobra Kai dojo. Midnight. No holds barred street fight. Come alone, without Johnny, or the deal is off."

"Are you crazy?! He's not doing that!" Johnny exclaimed. Miguel held up a hand to stop Johnny.

"How do I know that even if I do win, you won't kill me anyways?" Miguel asked. Kreese smirked.

"You don't. You just have to trust me. Just like you'll have to trust that I'll actually leave town if I lose."

"You can't possibly expect me to agree to those demands." Miguel stated. Kreese shrugged.

"Not like you have a choice, kid. Because if you don't, Cobra Kai is going to be in the Valley forever, and every time people get injured at the hands of the Cobras, the blood will be on your hands. You had the chance to stop it. But you didn't. You cowered away and refused to fight."

There it was again. Kreese pulling at strings to try and manipulate Johnny and Miguel into doing what he wanted them to. Scary part was that Miguel was extremely tempted. Kreese raised his hands.

"Think about it. You have until midnight." Kreese said, before walking away into the night…

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"You're not doing it." Johnny stated bluntly as he shut the door. Miguel scowled.

"That's it? No discussion? Nothing?" Miguel asked.

"Miguel! He's going to kill you no matter what you do! This isn't a rivalry with the Larussos anymore! This man is straight-up evil!"

"I know!" Miguel shouted. "But I also know that if tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year, him and his Cobras injure someone else like the way they injured me, I'm going to be the one to blame."

Johnny shook his head.

"No! He's just saying that to get in your head!" Johnny exclaimed.

"But he's right!" Miguel shot back. "I can't live with myself knowing that I had a chance to stop him but didn't!"

Johnny took a deep breath.

"Look, get in the car. Let's go get a second opinion, okay?"

Miguel instantly knew what, or rather who, Johnny was talking about. They quickly got into the car and drove to an extremely familiar house in Encino, picking up Hawk along the way. Johnny banged on the door and moments later, a banged-up looking Daniel opened the door. He looked at Johnny, confused.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Daniel asked. Johnny looked at Miguel, who nodded at him, and Johnny took a deep breath.

"We need to talk…"


	39. Chapter 39

Daniel led Miguel, Johnny and Hawk into the house. Johnny and Miguel had already briefed Hawk on the situation on the way there so he was up to speed.

"What's up, Johnny? What are you doing here?" Daniel asked again.

"We need your opinion on something." Johnny said. Daniel raised an eyebrow, confused. This was NOT what he expected when he saw the three Eagle-Fangs at his doorsteps.

"Um… okay? What's up?" Daniel asked as he led them into the living room, where Amanda and Sam were sitting. When Sam turned towards them, Miguel's eyes widened. The whole of Sam's face was covered in massive bruises, and she was holding an ice pack to the side of her face.

"Jeez. What happened to you?" Johnny asked.

"Tory." Sam murmured in reply.

"Oh, my God. Are you okay?!" Miguel exclaimed, walking over to her.

"Fine. She only beat me up for like 30 seconds before security arrived and she disappeared to avoid being thrown in juvie." Sam replied. "What are you guys doing here?"

Johnny and Miguel then told the Larusso family the whole situation, and by the end, they had all gone pale and silent. Eventually it was Amanda who broke the silence.

"Miguel, you can't seriously be considering it?!" Amanda exclaimed. "I mean, what possible reason does he have to live up to his side of the deal if he loses?"

"What other options do we have, Mrs. Larusso? Please, give me any other better options that get Kreese out of town and I would LOVE to hear them."

"We wait and think of a better plan." Daniel replied. "Having Kreese around an extra day, or an extra week, or an extra month, or even an extra year is better than you sacrificing your life."

"Why are you all so convinced I'm going to die?!" Miguel exclaimed. "You ever consider that I might succeed?"

"Look, Miguel, we have to look at the worst possible outcome. We can't afford for you to sacrifice your life!"

"And it's okay for innocent people to get hurt instead?" Miguel asked. "What do you think will happen if Tory and Shawn and Kyler and all of the other Cobras run rampant on the Valley, knowing that we are too scared to stop them? They're going to be leaving a pile of bodies higher than Mount Everest and we're just going to be sitting here on our asses, thinking why didn't we stop them!"

"Miguel, we can't let you do this. I'm sorry." Daniel said. Miguel scowled at him.

"And who are you to stop me?" Miguel snapped.

"He might not have the power to stop you, but I do." Johnny said. "And I will do literally anything to stop you from going, even if I have to physically drag you away myself."

Miguel was about to throw an insult Johnny's way, but he bit his tongue and stopped himself just in time. He eventually went from extremely worked up, to just defeated. He sighed.

"Fine. Can I quickly go use the bathroom?" Miguel asked. They nodded and Miguel walked out of the room to the upstairs bathroom, his Swiss Army Knife bouncing around in his pocket as he left the room. When he was gone, everyone turned to each other.

"We're making the right call here, right?" Johnny asked, looking at Daniel and Amanda for guidance. Despite his massive differences with them, couldn't deny that they were both good parents, especially Amanda.

"Yeah, of course we are! Miguel's going to get himself killed if he goes." Amanda said. "Sometimes we have to make decisions because they are in the best interests of our kids, even if they don't see them themselves."

"Yeah, but something tells me he isn't getting over this one anytime soon." Johnny remarked.

"He will eventually. I mean, he knows you have his best interests at heart, and you know what's best for him. Today's tournament proved just that. That was some fighting, Johnny. Didn't realise Karate had become the UFC, what with all of your students' grappling and wrestling."

Johnny shrugged.

"Benefit of having two nerds as your students…"

"Hey!" Hawk spat, indignantly. Johnny continued, ignoring the protests.

"Is that they know how to read and manipulate rules without breaking them. Everything we did was completely legal."

"Well, whatever it was, it hurt like hell." Sam stated. "That throw Miguel did is still killing my back."

The group were extremely engrossed in talking about the tournament, so engrossed that 20 minutes passed without them realising that Miguel hadn't yet shown. Only at around 25-30 minutes, Hawk realised.

"Hey, where the hell is Miguel?" He asked. Everyone looked around, confused.

"Yeah, no way he's still in the bathroom." Johnny stated. Everyone looked at each other, nervously. They were all thinking the same thing.

"You don't think he left and went to fight, do you?" Amanda asked slowly.

"No, impossible. We would have heard him walk out of the bathroom. The only possible way he could have escaped is from the bathroom window, but because he's on the second floor, he'd need something to help him climb out and not break his neck."

"The tree!" Sam cried, putting her head in her hands. She had been so dumb. How did she not see this coming?! "The tree right outside the bathroom. It also reaches outside my bedroom too, and I know Miguel knows how to climb it because back when we were dating, he… I mean, we were training, and um..."

Sam's voice trailed off when she remembered her audience. She was in front of her mom, her dad, Miguel's dad, and Hawk. Maybe not the best people to mention Miguel sneaking into her house late at night and out early in the morning to.

"Well, as much as we need to discuss the problem with you sneaking your boyfriends in and out of this house, we don't have time for that right now." Daniel said. "If Miguel's actually gone to go fight, we need to catch him NOW."

"Hey, guys, calm down. For all we know, Miguel is taking a massive shit." Hawk remarked. Everyone glared at him.

"For half an hour? Really?" Johnny snapped, as the group all ran towards the bathroom door. Daniel quickly ran into the kitchen and grabbed a massive ring of keys.

"Okay, one of these open the bathroom door." He said. Johnny shook his head.

"New plan." Johnny snapped, before kicking the bathroom door down, blasting it off his hinges and revealing an open window but no Miguel. They all groaned. He was gone. On the bathroom counter, there was a note written on a sheet of toilet paper. Johnny picked it up and immediately recognised Miguel's handwriting. He read it aloud.

_Hey guys,_

_I'm really sorry. I have to do this. I don't care what you say. I don't care if I don't come back. And the reason I'm doing this is because of you guys. Not that you guys pushed me to want to kill myself (god no!)... you guys gave me the strength to stand up for myself and stand up for what's right. So no matter what happens, whether I come back from this or not, I want you all to know that I love you guys. All of you._

_See you soon,_

_Miguel_

Everyone put their head in their hands.

"Oh, God! He's actually going!" Amanda cried.

"We need to go after him!" Johnny exclaimed. The group all nodded and raced out of the house. However, a disaster waited for them there. As well as Johnny's car being gone (Miguel had clearly found some way to hotwire it), Miguel had covered all possibilities of preventing the group from coming after him. As Daniel, Sam and Amanda walked over to their cars, they saw that Miguel had slashed the tires of all of their cars. Sam noticed a Swiss Army Knife lying on the ground, along with another letter. She picked it up and read it.

_Hey again,_

_Sorry about the tires. If I survive this, I swear I'll replace them._

"What do we do?!" Sam exclaimed.

"Well, we don't have four spare tires to fit on one car, so I guess we can call a cab, but it's nearly midnight so that might take up to half an hour." Daniel said. The group nodded, all of them extremely panicked. For all they knew, at that moment, Miguel could be dead…

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As Miguel walked into the Cobra Kai dojo, his first thoughts of the dojo was that it was so… cold. Not literally cold - it was summer in L.A so that was impossible. It was the atmosphere and decoration that made the room send shivers down Miguel's spine. Last time Miguel had been in the dojo, it was when Johnny was still sensei. Back then, the dojo had been full of life and noise. Now, it was deathly silent.

Kreese and Robby were nowhere to be found in the main dojo, so Miguel walked into the adjoining basement dojo and saw them. They turned towards him, Kreese's facial expression surprised and Robby's straight-up terrified. Miguel knew that Robby did NOT want to be there, but he had no choice.

"Ahh. Diaz. I must say, I didn't think you'd show. I would have thought your pussy of a sensei and stepfather would have banned you from competing." Kreese remarked. Miguel shrugged.

"He doesn't make my decisions for me." Miguel stated. Kreese nodded.

"You know, I'm impressed with you, Diaz. I have been all day. Are you sure there's no part of you that wants to come back home to where you belong, in Cobra Kai?" Kreese asked. Miguel laughed in Kreese's face.

"When hell freezes over." Miguel growled in reply. Kreese chuckled.

"That's fair. The way of the fist isn't for everyone. Now, you both know the rules. Well, the rule. And that is that there are no rules. No holds barred. Do whatever the hell you want. The fight only ends when the person's unconscious. Got it?"

"Got it." Miguel said, raising his hands and getting into a fighting position.

"Got it." Robby replied, preparing to fight too.

"Okay, FIGHT!

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From the get go, Miguel could tell that Robby was far from 100%. He was still feeling the aftermath of fighting 5 rounds against Hawk, 5 rounds against Miguel, and then a brawl against Hawk afterwards. He was a LOT slower than he was before, and he didn't have the energy for any acrobatics.

The two of them fought for several minutes, neither one of them pulling too far ahead. Miguel should have ended the fight by now, but he was holding back. He felt bad for Robby. He could tell the teenager was exhausted and was done with Cobra Kai. Therefore, Miguel didn't want to knock him out and risk injuring him. He had to think of a better plan.

"Come on, Keene. You know what to do." Kreese growled. Robby nodded and lunged at Miguel, sending a dropkick into Miguel's chest and causing him to fall back against the wall, a flare of pain shooting up his bad back. Miguel groaned in pain but forced himself back to his feet. He then a powerful combination back, a flurry of kicks that sent Robby crashing into the framed picture of Kreese in the Army. Kreese scowled as fractured pieces of the picture fell to the ground.

Miguel clenched his jaw. It was time to finish the fight. He had finally figured out a way to win the fight without severely injuring Robby. Using Johnny's wrestling/grappling skills for what was probably the millionth time, Miguel took Robby down to the mat and wrapped his legs around Robby's neck in a fierce triangle choke.

"Tap out, Robby." Miguel murmured to him.

Robby frantically tried to get out of the lock, but that only made it worse. He could feel his airway closing up as Miguel squeezed tighter and tighter.

"Robby, please. I don't want to hurt you." Miguel begged. "Please tap out!"

Robby struggled for several more moments, but just as he was about to pass out, Miguel felt Robby tap on his leg in submission. Miguel let go of Robby, relieved. He had won! It was all over!

However, just as Miguel started to stand up, he felt himself roughly slammed back onto the mat face first. Miguel groaned in pain as he felt his nose crack, and he rolled around to see Kreese standing over Robby.

"Oh, Robby, Robby, Robby." Kreese tutted. "You had so much potential, but you went soft. You gave up. Lost, like a pussy. And I'm going to tell you the same thing I told your father 35 years ago…"

Before Kreese finished his sentence, the door to the basement dojo swung open and the entirety of Cobra Kai walked in, led by Tory, and the group circled around Miguel and Robby threateningly. As Miguel and Robby slowly got to their feet and spun around, looking at the advancing pack of students, Kreese finally finished his sentence.

"Second place just isn't good enough…"


	40. Chapter 40

The Cobras started to prowl towards Miguel and Robby, and the two slowly retreated backwards until they hit the wall.

"Hey, Cobras!" Miguel cheerfully exclaimed, waving at them. "How are you guys? It's been a while. Can I just say that you guys look absolutely radiant! I don't know if Kreese has you guys on some kind of skincare routine, but you guys are absolutely glowing!"

The Cobras scowled at Miguel and stormed closer. Robby glared at Miguel.

"Great. Piss 'em off while they surround us. That's smart." Robby snapped, sarcastically. Miguel shrugged.

"Eh. They're gonna kill us anyway." Miguel replied.

"You know, you're a terrible person to have in a fox hole!" Robby exclaimed. Miguel nodded and he grabbed a bo staff and a set of nunchucks, and he tossed the bo staff to Robby.

"Maybe. But I'm pretty good at fighting my way out." Miguel replied. "Look, I know we've had our differences, but if we want to get out of this, we're going to need to work together."

"Hey Miguel?" Robby said. Miguel looked at him and Robby nodded. "Don't make it easy for them."

Miguel grinned and spun the nunchucks expertly in his hands.

"Hell no." He replied, and the two boys lunged in unison…

Without even discussing it, Miguel and Robby were perfectly in sync with their tactics. They were using Daniel's circle attack tactic, but were using a much more aggressive version of it. A massive advantage that was in their favor was that they were fighting with weapons, when the Cobras were empty handed.

Robby and Miguel stood back-to-back, swinging their weapons at incoming Cobras, knocking them all backwards. However, the wave of assaults that the Cobras were doing were never ending. Miguel and Robby were soon nearing exhaustion, and Robby turned to Miguel, sweating profusely, about to collapse from exhaustion.

"What do we do?" Robby asked.

"We do plan B." Miguel replied.

"Which is?!" Robby asked. Miguel took a deep breath and dropped the nunchucks to the ground, spreading his arms outwards, not trying to defend himself.

"This is plan B." Miguel stated.

"Seems like a pretty bad plan!" Robby exclaimed. Miguel shrugged.

"You got a better idea?" He asked. Robby didn't say anything and Miguel nodded. "Didn't think so."

He then turned back to the Cobras, who were more confused than anything else.

"What the hell is this?" Tory snapped. Miguel shrugged and walked towards her.

"Go ahead. Kill me, Tory. End my life. I swear to God I'm not going to stop you. I'm not going to fight you. Just do it. Snap my neck. Choke me out. Whatever you want."

"The fuck? You want to die?" Tory spat. Miguel shook his head.

"No. But I also know that you're not going to kill me." Miguel replied, confidently. Tory raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?" She growled.

"Because you're not a bad person, Tory. You've been extremely unlucky in life and you do have serious anger issues, but you're not a murderer. A killer. You've just been manipulated by Kreese to hate everyone and everything around you."

"You don't understand, Miguel. You haven't had to be tough like me. You and Larusso. You both had life handed to you on a silver platter." She stated. Miguel sighed.

"Tory, I had to flee Ecuador when I was 14 to get away from an abusive father who nearly killed me. A father who came to L.A earlier this year and nearly killed someone I love. Robby here didn't have any contact whatsoever with his father until he was 16. Everyone has their own issues! But you can't let hardships turn you against the people who care about you!" Miguel exclaimed.

"He's right." Robby chimed in. He knew Tory a lot better than Miguel did, so if anyone could really reach Tory, it would be him. "Tory, when we met, we both HATED Miguel and Sam for what they did to us. They walked off scot-free while we were stuck eating shit."

"I mean, I wouldn't say scot-free. You did break my back and paralyse me." Miguel stated.

"Miguel, shut up." Robby muttered, before turning back to Tory. "We were at the lowest points of our lives, and Kreese took advantage of that. He manipulated you. He manipulated both of us. He fed off all of the anger, the hatred and the betrayal we were feeling and he used it to turn us. He doesn't give a fuck about us. We are just pawns in this sick battle of his. We're not bad people, Tory. Remember that time I came to your house and I met your mom and brother? You were so sweet to them! You're an amazing person, Tory, and I really, really like you. Please don't do this. Get out of Cobra Kai while you still can!"

Tory looked extremely torn at this point. She was fighting an internal moral battle. On one hand, Kreese had been the only person completely loyal to her since the school fight. He had gotten her out of her issues with her landlord. He had offered her free karate lessons. He had put his faith in her to win. But deep down, she knew that Robby was right. She knew that Kreese didn't care about her as a person. She was nothing more than a weapon that when no longer sharp enough would be tossed aside. Eventually, she nodded at Robby and stood beside him, slipping her hand in his.

"None of you are bad people!" Miguel addressed the whole group, more confident now that they had turned Tory - their leader. "All of you have just been pulled down the wrong path. It isn't your fault. It isn't karate's fault. It is all KREESE'S fault. Karate is one of the best sports in the world. It absolutely changed my life. And if you guys fight for the right side, alongside the right people, I bet you anything that it'll change your lives too."

There was a brief silence, before the sound of sarcastic slow clapping filled the air. Making the noise was Kreese, who had been upstairs in the other dojo during this fight, but had now come down and heard the last part of the talk.

"Well that was sickening. I feel like I'm about to puke." Kreese remarked. "Now, all of you get the hell out of my dojo."

All of the students slunk out of the Cobra Kai dojo. Well, everyone but Miguel, Tory and Robby.

"Here's how it's going to go down, Kreese." Miguel snapped. "You're out of this town. You're never going to set foot in this dojo again. You've ruined so many lives, but no more."

"I don't think so." Kreese murmured. "I think I'm going to stay here as long as I want to."

"GET OUT!" Robby bellowed. Kreese chuckled.

"You have a temper, Keene. Like father, like son. And it's like I've often told him, it's going to be your downfall."

"Fuck you." Robby growled. Kreese then raised his hands, and got ready for a fight. He didn't care they were just kids. He was out for the kill. Miguel, Robby and Tory forced their nerves away though. There were 3 of them and 1 of him. They liked those odds.

Kreese lunged at Miguel first, but Miguel dodged his attack and sent a vicious kick towards Kreese's groin. That's right, Miguel was fighting dirty! If the kick had connected, it would have been fight over then and there, but unfortunately, Kreese blocked it and shoved Miguel backwards into an incoming Robby. He chuckled as both boys went down.

"Look at you two. Weak. And to think both of you were at both some point Cobra Kai's lead cobra."

"Ignore him. He's trying to get into your heads." Tory murmured to them and they nodded. She then turned to Kreese.

"Why don't you try me, you son of a bitch?" She growled, lunging at him. Kreese NEVER hit women. It was one of his only rules that he stood by, but when Tory threw the first punch, he had no chance than to defend himself. There was a MASSIVE strength difference between the teenagers and Kreese, and Kreese used that to his advantage. Kreese slapped Tory's punch away so hard that she spun to be facing backwards, and then he kicked her back into the glass mirror, shattering it against her and causing her to go down.

"Tory!" Robby shouted, concerned, running over to her. As he checked on Tory, Miguel turned his attention back to Kreese, who was leering maliciously at him.

"Come on. Try me." Kreese growled. Miguel sent a flurry of kicks Kreese's way, but Kreese blocked them all easily.

As Miguel stumbled backwards, Kreese tutted.

"Come on! You can do better than that! You're the All-Valley champ!" Kreese exclaimed, mockingly. Miguel nodded, using immense athleticism to leapfrog off the wall and land on top of Kreese's shoulders, immediately wrapping his legs around the man's neck and pulling Kreese to the ground in a triangle choke. That would have been enough to finish most people. It was enough for Robby. Miguel squeezed his legs as hard as he possibly could but before he knew it, with a herculean feat of strength, Kreese managed to get to his feet and lift Miguel up while he was still on Kreese's shoulders, and then the man slammed Miguel to the ground with a massive BANG! Miguel groaned, unable to move as his back absolutely killed him.

Kreese stood over the three fallen teens, and he shook his head. He shook his head at them.

"You three are disgraces. But you know, if I have to leave you with one thing, let me leave you with this…" Kreese said. "Cobra Kai never dies…"

With that, he walked out of the basement dojo, through the main dojo and out of the door forever. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was as he walked though the main dojo, he took out his cigar lighter and dropped it onto one of the mats, causing it to go ablaze and start spreading a massive fire around the dojo with Miguel, Robby and Tory still in the basement!

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As Miguel, Tory and Robby lay in the basement, they had no idea what was going on above. The door to the basement was slammed shut so they had no idea about the inferno that was taking over the top floor.

The three teenagers were absolutely exhausted. Although Robby didn't fight much against Kreese, he had done the most fighting out of all of them that day, between the All-Valley and his fight with Miguel. Tory was still recovering from being kicked into the glass mirror, and Miguel was trying to get his bearings after being slammed back first onto the mat. They had no idea why Kreese had abandoned the fight, but all three of them had an eerie feeling that something was wrong. Eventually, the three of them had recovered enough to get to their feet and limp towards the basement door. When Robby opened it and they all saw the flames in the upper dojo, their eyes widened. The flames had almost completely taken over the dojo, to the extent that parts of the ceiling and walls were falling apart. Robby slammed the door to the basement shut again, and the three turned to each other in panic.

"What the hell are we going to do?" Tory exclaimed. Robby took deep calming breaths and forced himself to think clearly. They all had to if they wanted to make it out alive.

"Okay, here's what we're going to have to do." Robby murmured. "We're gonna have to just fling open the door and sprint to the door and hope for the best."

"Are you crazy?!" Miguel cried. "The fumes alone are enough to…"

"So take off your shirt and wrap it around your mouth." Robby demanded. Miguel did so and Robby did the same, but Robby then noticed Tory hesitant. She was a girl after all, and girls obviously weren't as comfortable taking off their shirts as guys. Robby looked around the basement and saw a towel lying at the side of the room. He tossed it to her, and she nodded gratefully.

"Your clothes are probably going to be on fire by the time you make it out so she second you get out, stop, tuck and roll to extinguish the flames." Tory stated. They all nodded.

"All right. Are you guys?" Miguel asked, his trembling hands on the extremely hot doorknob. "3…"

"2…" Robby murmured.

"1…" Tory said.

"GO! GO! GO! GO! GO!" Miguel shouted, flinging open the door to the basement and sprinting out the door after Robby and Tory. However, despite the fact that it was only a 15 meter walk, it was a LOT easier said than done. The flames were everywhere, and the smoke alone was enough for the three teenagers to start choking, despite their clothing protection. In addition, due to the smoke, they couldn't really see where they were going. They could barely see a foot ahead of them.

Tory led the pack, making it out of the dojo unscathed. Miguel was next, making it to the door in one piece. Robby was supposed to be a couple of feet behind Miguel, but to Miguel's horror, when he turned around, Robby wasn't there. Miguel's eyes watered as they frantically searched the burning dojo, looking for Robby. He eventually found Robby, his left leg trapped under a fallen punching bag. Miguel limped over to him, ignoring his body's screams of pain as the fire started to burn through his thin clothing and singe his skin.

"Miguel, no! Get to safety!" Robby shouted as Miguel made his way towards him.

"Robby, shut up." Miguel snapped, as he heaved the punching bag up and off of Robby's leg with all his might. Robby slowly got to his feet, extremely dazed but grateful.

"Thanks, Miguel." He whispered. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, no prob…" Miguel's voice trailed off and his eyes widened in alarm. He saw the patch of ceiling that was right on top of Robby's head start to crack. He could see what was about to happen. It was all happening like a slow motion nightmare. Miguel sprinted towards a bemused Robby just as the ceiling on top of him finally cracked off. Miguel didn't have time to pull Robby to safety before the ceiling came down so he did the next best thing: he pushed him. He pushed Robby out of the way of the falling ceiling, but that left him right where Robby had been standing and the plaster ceiling came right down on his head with a sickening CRACK!

When Robby heard that sound, the shock and daze he was in completely snapped off. Miguel had possibly just died. Sacrificed himself for him. And Robby couldn't let that happen. He picked up an unconscious Miguel and draped him over his shoulders, using the last of his strength to dive out of the dojo doors with Miguel just as the rest of the ceiling came down…

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At that moment, Johnny, Amanda, Daniel, Sam and Hawk finally made it to the dojo. It had taken them a LONG time to get a taxi and there was a fair bit of traffic getting to Reseda. When they pulled up and saw the flames, their hearts stopped. Johnny and Daniel dived out of the car and sprinted over.

"No!" Johnny whispered. "No! No! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

As Johnny watched the whole dojo come down, he thought about his two sons in there, and how he had just lost the both of them. Daniel put a hand on Johnny's shoulder and there was a brief moment of silence before a quiet croak filled the air.

"Dad?" Johnny heard someone whisper. His head snapped around to see an EXTREMELY beaten-down and injured Robby and Tory kneeling next to an unconscious Miguel. Johnny and Daniel sprinted over to them, and at this point, Hawk and Sam joined them. Despite the fact that Robby and Tory's supposed enemies had just shown up, there was no lashing towards them. Their rivalry had been forgotten as they all stared down at the fallen teenager.

"What happened?" Johnny whispered. So Robby told him the whole story. About the 1 on 1 fight with Miguel. About the fight against the whole dojo. About them managing to turn the Cobras good again. About their fight against Kreese. All of it culminating in the fire, where Miguel saved Robby's life, and possibly sacrificed his own because of it. At this point, fire and ambulance had arrived at the scene, and Miguel was quickly taken away, stretchered into an ambulance that rushed for the hospital, the paramedics desperately trying to revive the unconscious boy…


	41. Chapter 41

As Miguel was rushed to hospital, Johnny sat in the corner of the ambulance, watching petrified as the medics circled around Miguel, slapping an oxygen mask around his head and cleaning up the various burns and scrapes around his body. Miguel clearly had severe head trauma but they couldn't do anything until they reached the hospital. They finally made it to the hospital 10 minutes later, and Miguel was immediately whisked away by awaiting nurses. He was quickly wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher and Johnny ran after them. However, as they made it to the Trauma Surgery room, Johnny was held back by one of the nurses.

"I'm really sorry, sir. You can't come any further." The nurse said.

"What are you talking about? I'm his father!" Johnny exclaimed. The nurse shook her head.

"He's being prepped for surgery as we speak. No visitors past this point. He's going to be in surgery for a couple of hours. I'm not going to lie, it's going to be a long night."

Johnny nodded and sat down in the waiting room, his head in his hands. What had he done? This was all his fault! This whole karate mess… It started with him. After Johnny finished filling out all of the hospital forms he was given, he called Carmen, who answered the phone.

"Hey, Johnny." She said. She heard Johnny take a deep, shaky breath and she was immediately nervous.

"Carmen…" Johnny whispered, his voice on the brink of tears.

"Johnny, what's going on?" Carmen asked, getting more and more scared as she heard Johnny's tone.

"Carmen… you need to come to the hospital. It's Miguel…"

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Carmen made it to the hospital soon after, and the Larussos, Robby and Hawk all joined them. The big group sat in silence for around 5 hours. There was quiet music being played in the waiting room, not happy music, not somber music, just… music. None of them were paying attention to it though. They were all bone-tired but none of them went to sleep due to their worry about Miguel. At any moment, a doctor could walk out of the surgery wing and tell them that Miguel had passed away. It was a terrifying thought, and that thought kept them up as they sat in the waiting room.

The sun was starting to rise the next morning when a doctor finally came out of the trauma surgery wing and into the waiting room. Everyone's exhausted eyes shot up when they saw the doctor, and Johnny and Carmen stood up nervously.

"Okay, listen up folks." The doctor said, his voice extremely exhausted. "When the ceiling came down on Miguel's head, he suffered a massive brain trauma injury. His brain started swelling massively. We had to perform a craniectomy surgery on him which means that we had to remove a small part of his skull to relieve pressure in the area where his brain swelled."

"He's going to be okay though, right?" Johnny asked, nervously, taken back to almost exactly a year prior, when he was asking the exact same question in the exact same location, about the exact same person. It was a horrific deja vu for them.

The doctor took a deep breath before answering.

"Well, that surgery had nearly ⅓ mortality rate but he seemed to pull through okay so that's great news. However, his body is in a vegetative state now, not dissimilar to last summer after his back injury. There's nothing we can do to wake him up other than sending thoughts and prayers his way. It's a big ask for his body at his age to recover from an injury this severe, but it isn't impossible. I'm really sorry. You can see him now if you want. He's in trauma recovery. Follow me."

The whole group followed the doctor into the trauma recovery center, and they all piled into Miguel's room. When they saw him, tears came to all of their eyes. Miguel looked in even worse shape than after his back injury. His hair had all been shaved off for his head surgery so the scar was extremely visible. He had burns up and down his arms and legs, and he had bruises all over his face.

After a couple of minutes, seeing him there was too much for them. They all left the room together and then turned to one another. There was another long, awkward silence before Carmen broke it.

"Okay. It's been a VERY long day. I think we should all go home and get some rest. Miguel will still be here tomorrow morning." Carmen said. Everyone nodded and began to split up. Hawk left first. The Larusso family left next. Soon, it was only Robby, Johnny and Carmen left in the hospital, and Johnny turned to Robby.

"So where are you staying right now?" Johnny asked him.

"Um… I've just been crashing with a friend." Robby replied. "I'm just going to go there now."

"Come stay at my place tonight." Johnny said, suddenly. "Please. I'd feel more comfortable. We don't know where Kreese is. He could come after you."

Robby slowly nodded, unsure.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to be a burden." Robby said, mainly to Carmen. He wasn't talking about a physical burden. He was mainly talking about being an emotional burden. After all, despite quitting Cobra Kai and helping Miguel out of the fire, he was still the guy who had broken Miguel's back. The guy who had terrorised Miguel for the past year. He completely understood if Carmen and her family wanted Robby as far away from them as possible.

But, to his surprise, Carmen didn't seem repulsed or angry at him at all. She nodded and smiled faintly.

"No burden at all." She replied. Despite everything, she knew that Miguel would definitely not be alive today if not for Robby carrying him out of the flames. Besides, from the looks of the boy in front of her, she could immediately tell that he wasn't a bad person. He had just had a really rough life so far.

Robby smiled faintly, relieved but his worry about Miguel preventing him from smiling more.

"Thank you so much."

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Robby walked into Johnny's apartment for the first time in a year and when he looked around, it was hardly recognisable. It was a lot brighter for a start, and it looked a lot homier. There were pictures on the shelf, a proper living room with a couple of beanbags on the ground, and it was spotlessly clean. Robby walked over to the shelf where the pictures lay, and he immediately spotted one that was of him in his soccer uniform from when he was 10. He couldn't help but smile. He couldn't believe his father had kept it. Along with the picture of Robby, there were quite a few of Miguel and Johnny together. He picked up one of Johnny and Miguel at the UFC event and he looked at it. They both looked so happy. They looked like an actual father and son. More so than Robby and Johnny ever had anyway.

"You went to the UFC together?" Robby asked. Johnny turned around and saw the picture Robby was looking at and he nodded.

"Yeah, um… we went about a month ago." Johnny replied. The two of them attempted to make small talk for a couple of minutes before Johnny addressed the elephant in the room.

"Look, Robby, I'm so sorry." Johnny said. "Sorry doesn't even begin to describe how bad I felt about our relationship. I should've made way more of an effort. I used Miguel as an excuse for myself for not being a part of your life."

"Dad, you shouldn't have to feel bad for loving your stepson." Robby murmured. Johnny shook his head.

"No, I didn't just love him, I used him as an excuse for me not being there for you, and that was the only way I was able to sleep at night. Especially when you joined Cobra Kai, because that's when I needed to be there for you most. Maybe if I reached out from the beginning, you could've been there sooner and… and things wouldn't have gotten this far. I'm so sorry, Robby. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Dad." Robby replied. Johnny knew that Robby didn't completely forgive him yet - that might never come - but it was definitely a start.

Robby looked at one of the other pictures of Miguel and Johnny. This one was of them at a concert of some kind, and Miguel was in his wheelchair. Robby felt a steel grip on his chest and he closed his eyes.

"I was such a jerk to him. I became such a bad person. I became broken. Can I even come back from that?"

Johnny chuckled and nodded.

"I know for a fact you can." Johnny replied.

"What makes you so sure?" Robby asked.

"You're forgetting, I was also manipulated by Kreese for years when I was your age. I was far more broken than you could ever imagine. And look at me now. So trust me, you have nothing to worry about. It's going to be tough, but with the right people around you, you can do it."

Robby nodded. He knew that it was Miguel who had inspired Johnny to make change, and he looked again at the numerous photos of him.

"I never got a chance to apologise to him for the school fight." Robby whispered. "For breaking his back. His shoulder. All of it. I'm going to have to live with myself knowing that he never got to know that I was sorry."

"He would have forgiven you." Johnny stated, confidently. "If Miguel was anything, it was forgiving. And besides, why are we talking as if he's dead? He's going to wake up. I know he is. You and him… you two are the strongest people I know..."

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But despite Johnny's confident words, Miguel didn't wake up for the next 4 days and with every passing day, everyone lost more and more hope that he was going to wake up at all. This injury wasn't a spinal injury like his last one. As bad as that one was, this coma was worse as it was a head trauma induced injury.

Around 5 days after Miguel first went into the coma, Sam finally managed to pluck up the nerve to go and see him. After that first night, she had locked herself in her room pretty much every minute since. Her parents had tried talking to her, but neither of them really knew what to say to help her. What would you say to someone whose love of their life was in a coma and would likely die? Seconds, minutes, hours all droned on excruciatingly slowly for her. As she watched the second hand on her clock dart around the circular frame in her room, she knew that everytime it moved, Miguel's chances of survival grew thinner and thinner.

Sam walked into the hospital that afternoon, her purse in one hand and Senor Octopus in the other. Last time Miguel had been in a coma, Sam had left the octopus at his bedside as a good luck charm and it had clearly worked, so she would be doing the same again.

She forced herself to stay calm and not break down despite the tears threatening to well up inside of her. She couldn't. She needed to be strong, at least until she got home. She walked down the hospital corridor and turned into Miguel's room at the end of the hall. To her surprise, Johnny was sitting in the corner of the room. He looked up at her when she walked in, and he nodded at her.

"Hey." He grunted.

"Hey." Sam murmured. "Any updates?"

Johnny sighed and shook his head.

"Sam…" Johnny started, and from his tone, Sam could tell it was bad news.

"Johnny, what's going on?" She asked, nervously.

"The hospital… they told Carmen to call the priest. He's going to bless Miguel in case he… you know."

Sam nodded. She did know. It was in case the EKG machine connected to him flatlined and his heart stopped beating.

"Oh. But that could mean anything, right? That doesn't have to mean that he's going to die." She said. Johnny looked down and she could tell he was holding something back. "Right?"

Johnny took a deep, shaky breath.

"Let me put it this way. Last time, they had planned to do that if Miguel had been in the coma for more than a month. This time… well, this time the hospital is suggesting it after only 5 days."

Sam put her head in her hands. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to curl up in a ball in the corner of the room and die there. Despite being only 16, she knew she had found the love of her life. The person she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. They had 6 blissful months together this year before they broke up, but even after, she knew that she still loved him. And now Miguel might die not knowing how she felt.

"So what is this thing with the priest exactly?" Sam eventually asked as she gathered her thoughts. Johnny shrugged.

"Um… I don't know much. The priest is supposed to bless him and his family pray for him. It's in case he's on the borderline of heaven and hell, to boost his case for heaven. It's kind of useless for him though. There would have to be some serious paperwork fuckup up there for him not to be in the highest place in heaven."

Sam nodded.

"That's right." She replied. Johnny only then noticed the stuffed toy in Sam's hands, and he raised an eyebrow.

"What's that all about?" He asked, pointing to it. Sam looked down at the Senor Octopus and she couldn't help but smile faintly.

"Oh, um… he won this for me on our first date last year. It's kind of become a good luck charm for us." She murmured. Johnny chuckled.

"I remember that day. He was SO nervous for that date. I had my All-Valley hearing that day to get Cobra Kai reinstated. We both knew that things would've been so much easier if we switched personalities for the night."

"Well, I tell you, no offense but if Miguel had your personality, I probably wouldn't have kissed him that night." Sam remarked. Johnny laughed.

"Fair. But it was my idea for him to take you to Golf n' Stuff so I get half a point for that." Johnny replied. "I remember when he ran into the dojo that night afterwards. He was so happy. Life was so easy back then. I wish things could go back to how they were back then."

"I don't." Sam replied. Johnny looked at her, confused. "Look, don't get me wrong, I want more than anything I've ever wanted for Miguel to wake up. But if we turned back to last year, I wouldn't have gotten to spend those 6 months with Miguel. Miguel would be just your student and not your son. With the bad this year came a hell of a lot of good."

Johnny nodded and smiled faintly.

"That's a hell of a Miguel way to think about it." He remarked. Sam beamed and nodded.

"Who do you think I learned it from?" Sam asked. Johnny nodded. He looked at her and he remembered how happy she made Miguel. Despite her surname, that put her in his good books.

"He really loved you, you know?" Johnny told her, pointing to Miguel. "Even after you broke up, he never stopped."

Sam smiled faintly.

"That makes two of us." She responded. They both looked at Miguel in silence for several moments. However, suddenly, the silence in the room was broken when the previously still Miguel started seizing and shaking rapidly. Johnny and Sam's eyes widened and they were immobile in shock. Luckily, the EKG machine, that had started beeping faster and faster, had triggered a silent alarm that alerted the nurses and doctors. They ran into the room moments later, but before they could inject Miguel with a stabilizing drug, the worst sound they could possibly hear rang out through the room.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

The EKG machine flatlined, indicating that Miguel's heart had officially stopped beating. As Sam and Johnny watched from the corner of the room in shock and horror, the nurses frantically grabbed a defibrillator from the side and hovered it over Miguel's chest.

"Ready… CLEAR!" The doctor shouted, and the nurse electrocuted Miguel with the defibrillator, trying desperately to restart Miguel's heart but with no success.

"Again! Ready… CLEAR!" The doctor yelled, more panic in his voice. THUD! The defibrillator zapped Miguel extremely hard but that did nothing to speed up the flatlining EKG machine. Tears filled Sam's eyes and Johnny put an arm around her. He was in shock. He couldn't believe what he was watching. He looked up at the ceiling, praying to the Gods above. He was not a religious man - he didn't even believe in God - but in the off-chance that there was anyone up there, he begged them for a miracle.

"Ready… CLEAR!" The doctor shouted, even more desperate. He knew from experience that his patients who didn't revive after 3 zaps all were gone.

THUD!

The defibrillator hit Miguel's chest one last time, but with no success. The defibrillator kept steady with one flat beep. The doctor slowly shook his head and turned to a devastated and panicked Sam and Johnny.

"I'm so sorry. He's go…"

The doctor never got to finish his sentence. Suddenly, out of the blue, the EKG Machine started beeping once again as Miguel shot upright in his bed, panting heavily and thrashing around.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!


	42. Chapter 42

**Okay, so the next chapter is NOT real. It is all part of Miguel's subconscious. Like last time he was in a coma, he dreamed of the All-Valley, this time he dreams this…**

Running. That's what Miguel was doing. He sprinted through the hedge maze, crashing through the foliage as he went. Mist covered every inch of the maze and Miguel couldn't see two feet in front of him. He had no idea where he was going. He had no idea what was happening. All he knew was that he saw a tsunami of dirt chasing him, threatening to bury him alive. That was all he needed for his mind to convince his body to start running through the maze.

Miguel eventually came to a fork in the narrow passageway he was sprinting down. He had no idea which pathway would lead him to the end of the maze. He took a gamble and went left, but he swore as moments later, he reached a dead end. Turning on his Miguel, Miguel started tearing his way back to the fork, running towards the fast approaching tsunami. As Miguel finally made it back and turned right, the even felt pieces of dirt lick at his heels. He winced. The dirt was scalding hot, and he felt it burn into his ankle, the place where he got singed.

Miguel forced himself on, creating distance between him and the avalanche. He soon came to his next obstacle, but this one was far worse than the fork. It was his father standing right in front of him, grinning sadistically at him.

"What's up, boy?" His father asked. Miguel closed his eyes as his heart pounded. This isn't real. This isn't real. This is just a figment of his imagination.

"The fuck?" Miguel snapped. "What do you want?"

"If you want to get to the end of the maze, you're gonna have to get through me." His dad growled, balling his hands into fists. Miguel scowled at him and lunged, tackling his dad and grappling his dad to the ground. However, due to the size differential, Mr. Diaz quickly rolled over so he was on top of Miguel, but Miguel didn't let him get too close. Miguel quickly pulled his knees to his chest and kicked outwards, sending Mr. Diaz flying backwards and being buried by the dirt tsunami. Miguel nearly threw up as he watched his dad being sucked in, but he forced himself onwards, scrambling to his feet and taking off deeper into the maze.

As Miguel got further into the labyrinth, he eventually came to his next obstacle. Well, he didn't know what kind of obstacle it was. All he saw was a massive clearing, and Sam sitting on a bench in the middle. Behind her, there was a solid concrete wall. It was like the end of the road. A dead end. But for some reason, Miguel was drawn to it. He could sense something was wrong, but he ignored his feelings and continued walking closer. However, he stopped about halfway there when he saw a hooded figure sit on the bench next to her. The man pulled down his hood and Miguel's eyes widened in alarm when he saw who it was… it was Kreese!

Miguel started to run faster towards Sam, as Sam looked at Kreese, terrified. She looked so petrified that it was almost like she could see something from her angle that Miguel couldn't. As Miguel ran closer, Kreese and Sam finally heard him. They both turned around and saw him and when Miguel saw Kreese's chest, his heart stopped. Strapped to Kreese's chest was a suicide bomber vest!

Kreese nodded at Miguel.

"Ahhh, Mr. Diaz. Right on time!" He announced. "So, let me cut to the chase right here. This suicide vest is rigged to explode in 30 seconds. If you come near me or Sam, it automatically explodes, and all three of us die. If you back up and let the vest explode, Sam and I will die, but the concrete wall behind us will be broken down and you can run through and continue the maze."

Knowing that Sam was a figment of his subconscious, Miguel shrugged.

"Well, then obviously I'm gonna back up." Miguel stated. That was easy. Kreese chuckled.

"You make it sound so easy." Kreese remarked. "And people say I'm cold."

"MIGUEL, HELP ME! HELP ME, PLEASE!" Sam begged, her cries ringing through Miguel's ears as he backed up. Hearing his girlfriend - well, his ex-girlfriend - in so much pain literally broke his heart, and Miguel closed his eyes as tears ran down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Sam." He whispered as he moved further back.

"MIGUEL! PLEASE! MIGUE…" Sam's pleas were cut off by a massive BOOM! The bomb exploded, and Miguel was forced to watch as Sam was blown up in a massive fireball. The blast sent Miguel flying backwards but didn't harm him. It also, as Kreese said, broke the wall down, revealing the path he was meant to take. Miguel limped towards it but as he made it to the blast site, Miguel actually did throw up. He looked down to see pieces of Sam's body dismembered and lying all over the place, completely with her severed head. The smell of blood and death caused Miguel to retch and cough and he would've passed out if not for the massive boiling dirt tsunami that was coming closer.

He forced himself deeper into this sick, twisted maze. He wanted to lie down and just give up but he knew he couldn't. He had the feeling that if he died in this maze, he would die in real life. He eventually made it to the last and final obstacle. It was Johnny. Miguel tensed up. Like in his obstacle with Sam, he had the feeling something was wrong. Having said that, he walked over to Johnny.

"Hey, Miguel." Johnny smiled at him.

"Johnny, what's going on?" Miguel asked. "What's the obstacle? What do I have to do? Do I have to fight you?"

"No way. I'm not going to fight you. You do have to do one thing though to get to the end of the maze."

"What's that?" Miguel asked.

"You have to kill me." Johnny replied, completely serious. Suddenly, a small dagger appeared in Miguel's hands. Miguel looked at Johnny, alarmed.

"I'm sorry, what?" Miguel stammered. Johnny shrugged.

"You heard me." Johnny replied. "Stab me. Come on. Do it. It's the only way."

Miguel shook his head furiously.

"No! I'm not going to do that!" Miguel exclaimed, despite the fact that Johnny was not actually real. He walked past Johnny and attempted to get to the next part of the path, but he was immediately thrown back as if by some invisible force field. Miguel groaned in pain and got to his feet. Johnny tutted.

"Come on, Miguel. The dirt tsunami is coming." Johnny said. Miguel turned around and saw that he was around. With trembling hands, Miguel's fingers curled around the dagger and he edged closer to Johnny. He pulled his hand back, ready to push forward and stab Johnny in the stomach but he stopped himself right when he was about to do it.

"I can't do this." Miguel murmured.

"Yes, you can! You have to!" Johnny shouted. "STAB ME!"

"No! I can't!" Miguel shouted as the tsunami edged closer and closer.

"DO IT! DO IT NOW! DO IT!" Johnny yelled. Miguel cried out in pain and before he could stop himself, he plunged the dagger into Johnny's gut. Johnny screamed in pain and Miguel cried as Johnny collapsed to the ground. Miguel immediately leaned down to treat Johnny but Johnny suddenly disintegrated to ash. Miguel was sobbing furiously at this point. He had enough. He was done with this sick game his mind had created. He curled up into a ball, saying a final prayer, as the tsunami finally crashed over him…

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The first thing Miguel felt was the heat. It was excruciatingly painful. It was like he was being stabbed by a million knives all over his body. The next thing he felt was the suffocation. To his surprise, being taken over by the dirt avalanche wasn't like being buried by dirt. It was like he was drowning underwater. Other than the minute worth of air he had sucked in before he was buried, he had no source of oxygen. As he looked up, he saw the surface high, high above him. Way too far for him to reach. He was screwed. Bound to die. He began to relax his limbs and he accepted his fate.

Weirdly, never in his life had Miguel been so calm. It was peacefully silent, no sound coming from underwater other than his thin stream of air bubbles. He knew he was going to die, so he didn't feel any of his constant pressures about grades, karate, girls, any of it. It was just him, all alone. He was ready to punch his ticket for death. However, suddenly, the silence was broken as Miguel heard extremely familiar voices from the surface.

" _There would have to be some serious paperwork fuckup up there for him not to be in the highest place in heaven."_

Miguel faintly heard Johnny's voice utter those words, sending shivers down his spines. He was talking to someone and they were talking about him as if he was already dead. But he wasn't! He didn't want to die! But he didn't have the strength to make it to the surface in time.

" _He really loved you, you know?"_

Johnny's voice echoed through Miguel's skull, but it was frustrating that Miguel had no idea who he was talking to. Carmen? His yaya? I mean, how many people in the world did he really love?

" _That makes two of us…"_

Hearing Sam's voice sent shockwaves through Miguel's entire system, waking him up from the doze he seemed to be in. Sam was there, and she was saying she still loved him! Knowing that simple fact gave him the strength to start kicking his legs and charge towards the surface…

Moments later, Miguel learned the hard way that it was MUCH harder to swim in this substance than water. He was already exhausted, and this sludge he was in was a lot thicker than water. It took him around triple the effort to travel half the distance. He forced himself to keep going though. He had to make it to the surface, or die trying at least! As Miguel quickly ran down the amount of air in his lungs, he slowly made it higher and higher and soon, he was only a couple of yards away from the top. However, he was completely out of air now. He felt like he was about to pass out. Black spots danced above his eyes. He didn't have long - maybe 10 seconds before he passed out and died.

" _That makes two of us…"_

Sam's words continued to ring through Miguel's ears, and he forced himself higher and higher, kicking with every fiber of his strength. Up, up, up he went and just as he was about to pass out, his head broke the surface, gasping and spluttering…

When he looked around, he realised that all of the mud and maze were gone. He was in a hospital room, but he couldn't see anyone other than the 4 nurses and doctors standing over him. Miguel let out a massive sigh of relief and he immediately passed out again, peaceful sleep not death overtaking him…


	43. Chapter 43

"He's okay!" The doctor exclaimed, relieved, to Sam and Johnny. They both let out massive sighs of relief and they put their heads in their hands. They had just watched Miguel die right in front of them. His heart had stopped beating for more than a minute. But now, his heart was beating again and he was resting peacefully in the bed. "He's resting now. He's not in a coma. He's just sleeping. He should be awake soon."

"Thank God." Sam murmured, wiping tears away from her face.

"Jesus Christ you scared us, kid." Johnny exclaimed to the sleeping Miguel, before turning to Sam. "I'm gonna go call his mom."

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Miguel awoke in a white room. Well, it was actually just big, concrete bricks painted white. He felt strange; sluggish and slow and dizzy and everything else. He blinked a couple of times to try and clear some of the haze out of his eyes, then slowly turned his head to the side to see where exactly he was. For some reason, his brain wasn't acting as quickly as it normally did. Was anyone else here with him?

"Oh my god! You're awake!" A pleasant female voice came from just below where he was looking. He lifted his head up slightly and saw an elderly lady furiously writing something on a clipboard chart.

"Am I dead?" He asked without preamble. If he was, he was definitely going to suggest a much more pleasant welcome into the afterlife; a bed in a white concrete room wasn't cutting it for him, and he was usually pretty relaxed about that kind of stuff.

The elderly lady laughed a bit, which highlighted the laugh lines along her face, and then shook her head. "You're in the West Valley General Hospital. You came close, I'm not going to lie."

"How did I get here?" Miguel groaned and let his head fall back into the pillow behind him, a touch of nausea coming to him as his temples flared in pain when he shifted himself. "Fuck, this hurts."

The nurse shook her head and retrieved a needle from the table beside him. "Language, my young friend. Never a need for that word."

Miguel grumbled and swore inside his mind. The nurse had complete control over his well-being, though, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

He watched as she approached with the needle, but then (much to his relief) she suddenly turned towards his I.V. and used that line for the injection. "Let's see if Demerol can take care of your discomfort, shall we?"

Miguel nodded a bit, then settled back down and anxiously waited for the painkiller to work. He had been given Demerol when he had injured his back and it had worked wonders for him. He felt the drug quickly work through his body and make him feel extremely tired in the process. The nurse then walked out and into the waiting room, where Johnny, Carmen, Sam and Robby were waiting. They all jumped to their feet when the doctor walked in.

"Is he okay?" Carmen asked immediately, concerned. The doctor nodded.

"He just woke up now actually. He's obviously feeling dizzy, nausea and pain from his injury - that's completely normal."

"Can we see him now?" Johnny asked. The doctor nodded.

"Yeah, sure. As you know, we had to perform a craniectomy, which is an extremely high risk surgery with almost a third mortality rate but he seemed to pull through okay. The swelling in his brain went down so that's great. Please follow me and please keep your tones calm and soft when speaking to him. There's always a small chance of amnesia and we don't want to aggravate his brain in its current state."

"Wait… he could have forgotten about us?" Sam asked, suddenly extremely frightened. The doctor smiled kindly at her.

"It's a very unlikely chance, and even if he does have amnesia, it's most likely temporary. He'll be up and about in no time." The doctor replied.

They finally arrived at the surgery recovery room. The doctor slowly entered, and they saw Miguel lying on the hospital bed. Everyone smiled widely at him when they walked in.

"Hey, Miguel." Carmen said softly, smiling at him. Miguel nodded at her.

"Hey, mom." He murmured, wincing in pain. Even saying just a few words caused him to have an extremely severe nausea spell.

"How are you feeling, kid?" Johnny asked. Miguel looked at him, confused.

"Who are you?" He asked. His eyes then trained on Sam and Robby, and he raised an eyebrow. "And who are you two?" He asked. Everyone's eyes widened.

"Miguel… you don't know who they are?" Carmen asked, her voice rising in worry. Everyone looked anxious, verging on devastated, but a stern look from the nurse forced them to keep their voices calm.

"So who are you guys?" Miguel asked.

"Um… I'm your stepfather." Johnny said.

"I'm your… I'm your step brother." Robby said. He knew that now wasn't the best time to mention all of the shit the two of them had been through.

"And you?" Miguel asked, looking at Sam. Sam looked at him, her heart shattered. He really had no idea who she was.

"I… uh… I… um…" Sam stammered to come up with a response. Friend? Ex? Girlfriend? What possible word could she use to describe herself?

Just then, she noticed Miguel's facial expression change. He looked like he was holding back a laugh and a smile. That's when they all realised… he was just messing with them! He knew exactly who they were!

"You son of a bitch." Johnny growled.

"Easy! I just got out of a coma!" Miguel laughed.

"You actual jackass! That wasn't funny!" Sam cried, more relieved than upset though. "So you know who we are?"

"Yeah, I know who you are, Sam." Miguel nodded, before feeling his eyes start to close in exhaustion. He forced himself to stay awake but he let out a massive yawn.

"We should let you get some rest." Carmen said. Everyone nodded and they left Miguel to sleep shortly after. He fell asleep right away. He was EXHAUSTED.

Once they were out of the room, they all looked at each other, relieved.

"He's okay." Johnny breathed in relief. Everyone grinned wildly. Robby then turned to Johnny.

"Hey, dad. I need to go somewhere, okay? I'll be right back." Robby said. Johnny nodded.

"Do you want me to come with you?" He asked, seeing Robby's serious expression on his face. Robby shook his head, and then left the hospital shortly after…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Miguel woke up a couple of hours later, and immediately when he woke up, nurses and doctors started doing tests on him to gauge the mental extent of his injuries. It lasted for about an hour before they finally let him rest. There was a 25% mortality rate up to 30 days after a craniectomy so the doctors were being extremely cautious of any lasting side effects. During his short break, Miguel was starving - he hadn't eaten since coming out of the coma nearly 13 hours ago - and he wasn't about to eat the horrendous hospital food. Suddenly, as he was pawing around at the liquidy mashed potatoes in his tray, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Miguel called, and Robby walked into the room. Miguel looked at him, surprised. HE didn't expect to see Robby there, alone.

"Hey." Robby said as he walked in, holding a large duffel bag in his hands. "How are you feeling?"

"Sick of being in the hospital." Miguel replied, honestly. "I wanna get out. I feel like I was just here and just as I was starting to feel normal again, I'm fucking back here."

There was an awkward silence for several moments before Robby broke it.

"Miguel, I'm so sorry." He whispered. "Not just for the school fight. Both of your injuries… they were all my fault. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be here right now."

"You're right. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here." Miguel stated. "I would be in a box in the ground, watching up from hell as people offer my family 'condolences' or 'prayers'. I heard you carried me out of the burning dojo after I got taken out. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you."

"You wouldn't have had to run back into the flames if I hadn't gotten stuck." Robby pointed out. Miguel shrugged.

"Yeah, fine, so let's just call it even and move on." Miguel replied. Robby raised an eyebrow. Although he knew that him and Miguel weren't completely good, he couldn't believe that Miguel was willing to move on, just like that.

"That's it? You're willing to forgive just like that?" Robby asked, surprised. Miguel shrugged.

"Life's too short to hold grudges." He replied. Robby slowly nodded, astonished.

"Wow, um… okay." He said. The two were silent for several moments before Robby spoke again.

"I hated you, you know?" Robby remarked, drily. "I hated everything about you."

"Awwww, am I blushing or…?" Miguel joked, sarcastically. Robby chuckled and continued.

"As I sat in my cell at juvie, I thought that you had stolen everything from me. You had stolen my freedom. Then when Johnny didn't show up to visit me because he was at the hospital with you, I thought you had stolen my dad. Then after finding out that you and Sam kissed at the party, and then on top of that seeing her on TV trying to raise money for your surgery… I hated you for stealing my girlfriend on top of everything else."

Miguel blushed furiously.

"Robby… about what me and Sam did at the party… I'm really, really sorry. That wasn't cool. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay." He said. "To be honest, the whole summer we were dating, I knew you two would eventually end up back together. Her and I... We were a summer vacation relationship and nothing more. We had absolutely nothing in common. I didn't understand her jokes. I didn't share her interests. But you do. You and her are perfect for each other."

"Still. That doesn't justify me kissing someone else's girlfriend, even if it was her who started the kiss." Miguel said. Robby shrugged.

"Once again, it's fine. It's been a year. A LOT has happened since then. Besides, I feel like the shit I did to you is WAY worse." Robby replied, gesturing to Miguel's head, shoulder and back. "Just… don't screw it up with her, okay? She's a good person. She doesn't need what happened last year to happen again."

Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, and word to the wise, don't cheat on Tory. I don't think she takes it very well." Miguel remarked. Robby laughed and nodded.

"Oh, um… I come bearing gifts." Robby added.

"Huh?" Miguel asked, confused. Robby walked over to his duffel bag and opened it, pulling out the extremely familiar All-Valley trophy. Miguel looked at him, confused.

"What is this?" Miguel asked.

"Well, last night, I heard the All-Valley committee were having a meeting about what to do with the tournament final after… you know, we didn't actually finish. I went down there and I pulled out of the tournament. Congratulations, you're the third back-to-back All-Valley champ in history."

Miguel's eyes widened.

"Are… are you serious?" Miguel stammered. Robby nodded.

"Yup. You deserved the win. After everything you went through this year because of me, I didn't deserve to win. Besides, you and I both know that if the tournament hadn't been stopped, you would've taken the final point. I was just about to pass out from exhaustion."

Miguel smiled widely. He was touched.

"Wow, thank you so much, Robby." He murmured, holding the trophy in his hands.

"No problem." Robby replied. "Oh, and I have one more gift!" He said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a massive burger, fries and two shakes. "I know that hospital food is ass so I thought the least I could do was get you some good food. Vanilla or Chocolate shake?"

"Uh… vanilla please." Miguel replied, in shock, as Robby moved his hospital tray and placed the burger meal on his table instead.

Robby took the chocolate one himself, and the two boys looked at each other. So much animosity between them in the past year quickly fading away in that single afternoon.

"Hey, Robby?" Miguel said.

"Yeah?" Robby replied.

"I know that we're technically step-brothers and although we don't love each other like normal step-brothers do, just know that if you ever need anything ever, I've got your back." Miguel said. Robby nodded.

"Right back at you man." He replied, before holding his milkshake aloft. "Cheers."

Miguel laughed and knocked his vanilla one against Robby's as the two of them sat side by side, not fighting for the first time ever.

"Cheers…"


	44. Chapter 44

Miguel had one more surprise visitor that night. After his family had all left and visiting hours were surely over, late that night, there was one more knock on his door.

"Come in!" Miguel called. In walked Sam, and she smiled at him as she saw him. Miguel smiled back.

"Hey, Miguel." She said.

"Hey, Sam." Miguel replied. There was a brief awkward silence between them, as there often was with them nowadays. Even though they were 'trying to be friends', they could never be alone together without it being pretty awkward, made more so now for Miguel after he heard what Sam had said while he was in the coma, but she didn't know that he could hear her.

"So, um… what are you doing here?" Miguel asked.

"I… um… I wanted to see if you needed anything." Sam stammered, making up a lie on the spot. Truth be told, she just wanted to see him.

"Yeah, um… everything's good. I've had these stupid tests done on me all day. So many of them are unnecessary too." Miguel said. "Like why the hell do they need to know who my first grade math teacher was? Like I get testing me for amnesia but like I didn't remember who the teacher was before the accident so I sure as hell don't remember now!"

Sam laughed.

"Awww. Are you okay?" She asked. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, I'll live." He replied. There was another awkward silence before Sam spoke again.

"Miguel, I need to tell you something." Sam started, nervously. Here it was. She was about to tell Miguel how she felt about him, and she was nervous. She knew that he was extremely preoccupied with all of his injury stuff, but she couldn't wait any longer. The past year had taught her that life was short, and precious, and it could be taken away at any moment so they needed to savor and take advantage of the time they had.

Before she could say anything though, Miguel spoke.

"Sam, I heard what you said when I was in a coma right before I woke up." Miguel cut in. Sam's eyes widened and her heart started pounding. He knew! He knew how she felt but he hadn't said anything up until now! Was that an indicator? Did that mean that he didn't have feelings for her back?

"You… you did?" She stammered. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, um… I heard you and Johnny talking and then you said… what you said." Miguel said, his heart racing just as fast as Sam's. "Hearing it saved my life. Literally And I… I feel the exact same way, Sam. I love you so much, and I never stopped. When I broke up with you a couple of months ago, it wasn't because I stopped loving you. In fact, it was the opposite. I loved you so much that I knew I couldn't be the person you deserved. I was too messed up."

"And you were too thick headed to realise that I could've helped you, and I would've rather been with you a fraction the amount of time than another guy all the time." Sam finished. Miguel blushed furiously and nodded.

"Yeah, and I completely understand if you don't want to date me ever again. Both times we dated, we had pretty bad breakups. It'd be in our best interests to cut the problem off at the source, right?"

"See, this is your problem, Miguel! That's an awful solution!" Sam exclaimed. "You have a really weird outlook on life! Your mind immediately goes to us just not dating at all!"

"What? Do you have a better idea?" Miguel asked.

"Of course I do! I always have a better idea than you do!" Sam remarked. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah? Let's hear this genius idea!" He challenged her. Sam took a deep breath.

"Well, our problem is with our breakups, right? Both of us suck at breaking up with each other, and handling said breakup. So, my idea is that we get back together but this time, we don't break up."

Miguel listened to her idea, and he took in what she had just told him. He smiled faintly at her, gazing into her gorgeous ocean-blue eyes.

"Damn it, that is a better idea." He groaned. Sam giggled and she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. Miguel immediately returned the kiss, sitting up in his hospital bed but immediately wincing in pain as his head throbbed. Even that simple movement hurt, and Sam noticed. She immediately gently pushed back down so he was lying on the bed. Although his head hurt a lot less as he lay back down, he couldn't kiss Sam nearly as easy in that position. He was about to try and get up again but Sam placed two hands on his chest to gently keep him where he was.

"Miguel, don't sit up. You're clearly hurting yourself." She murmured. Miguel groaned.

"But I wanna…" Miguel whined, protestingly. Sam laughed. Sometimes, he acted like such a kid. A stubborn kid at that. She knew that Miguel was going to keep trying to get up and he would injure himself, so she came up with a creative solution...

Taking off her jacket, Sam slowly climbed onto his bed, straddling his waist and lying on top of him so that she was forcing him to lie flat on his stomach and he wouldn't try and get up. She then leaned down and kissed him again, deepening the kiss until they were full-on making out. Just as both of them were starting to feel slightly uncomfortable just making out and both wanted more (which they couldn't, given that they were in a hospital room of course!), Sam quickly rolled off of him, grabbing her jacket and purse.

"What? Where are you going?" Miguel exclaimed.

"Sorry! You gotta get some rest." Sam laughed.

"No! Sam! Come on! You can't leave me like this!" He groaned, the front of his pants uncomfortably tight.

"Sorry, Miguel! That's all you're gonna get until you're out of the hospital so you better get well soon if you want some more." She said, slowly twirling around seductively and heading towards the door. Miguel chuckled and smiled at her, a massive, genuine smile on his face as he gazed at her.

"I love you so much." He murmured quietly, not meaning for her to hear, his eyes closing from exhaustion and immediately falling asleep. Sam heard him and turned around, silently walking back to him and watching him sleep. He looked so peaceful. So at ease. She looked at him and knew that this was her person. Her soulmate. The person she wanted to be with for the rest of her life.

"I love you too." She whispered. Sending a quick message to her mom to let her know that she would be staying the night in the hospital, Sam slowly climbed back onto the bed, and she lay down next to Miguel, resting her head on his chest, listening to him slowly, quietly breathing in and out. His calmness caused her own heartrate to slow, and she started to feel tired too. She started to close her eyes and fell asleep right there beside him. Miguel felt her head on his chest and he slowly woke up, smiling faintly as he saw her. He slowly wrapped an arm around and pulled her closer, moving the blanket so that it was covering both of them, and then falling fast asleep…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

A week (that's right, a whole week!) later, Miguel was finally discharged from the hospital. The doctors had been extremely overly cautious to make sure he didn't have any threatening side-effects to his injury and surgery, and they did about a million tests on him before they finally let him out.

A LOT had happened since Miguel was last in the outside world. First of all, Silver and Barnes had not been arrested given that they hadn't technically committed any crimes, but they had both left the state and were both on probation, not allowed within 500 feet of children. Kreese, however, as someone accused of arson and attempted murder of 3 children, was on the run from the authorities and hadn't been found yet. The police had tried, but they had pretty much given up at this point. There was extremely little known information about Kreese, and they checked any spots they thought he could be at, but with no success.

They weren't going to give up though, even if the police had. Kreese was the final loose end to tie up in this crazy, out-of-control karate war they were in. In addition, for as long as Kreese was out there, he was a threat to all of them. So they all decided together, if the police weren't going to find Kreee, they were going to find him. Together…

Miguel, Hawk, Demitri, Robby, Sam, Daniel, Amanda and Johnny all met up at the Larusso House that night to spitball ideas on where Kreese could be.

Miguel was one of the first to arrive that evening, and Sam opened the door for him and beamed when she saw him.

"Miguel! You're out of the hospital?!" She exclaimed. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, the doctor finally gave me the all-clear to go back to life as normal." He replied. Sam raised an eyebrow.

"She did, huh?" Sam asked, unconvinced. Miguel sighed.

"Okay, fine, she recommended another week of bed rest, but what does she know?!"

"Um… how to revive you when your heart stops." Sam stated. Miguel nodded.

"True. So, what, are you going to kick me out?" Miguel remarked. Sam giggled and shook her head.

"Nah, I can think of a better idea." She replied, pulling him into the house and kissing him. They made out for several moments before Daniel walked into the living room and saw them. He groaned.

"Ah, guys, come on! If you're going to make out, at least have the common courtesy to hide it from your parents!" Daniel exclaimed. They laughed and broke apart.

Around 15 minutes later, the whole group had arrived and they all sat in the living room. Daniel had bought a large whiteboard for them to spitball ideas onto and he rolled it into the center of the room. Him and Johnny - the two leaders of the group - stood up and faced the rest of them.

"All right, guys! Welcome to the first meeting of the Kreese Finding Committee." Daniel announced. Miguel choked back a laugh.

"I'm sorry, the what?" He asked.

"Kreese Finding Committee." Daniel said.

"I'm sorry, the KFC?" Miguel asked. Everyone laughed and Daniel blushed.

"Miguel, shut up." Daniel stated, jokingly. "Anyways, this is serious business. Kreese is extremely dangerous and the cops are not doing anything to find him. All they said to me was to call if we know for a fact that Kreese is somewhere. We've already called them twice and neither location showed any sign of Kreese so the cops said that if we do that a third time, we're going to get fined."

"What? Can they do that?" Demitri asked. Daniel nodded.

"Yeah. Something about having to gear up a SWAT team and pulling them away from crime scenes that actually need them." Daniel stated. "Anyways, do any of you have any idea where he could be?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the doorbell rang. Everyone looked at each other, confused and slightly nervous. Now, with Kreese out there, all of them were extremely on edge.

"Did you invite anyone else?" Daniel asked Johnny. Johnny shook his head.

"Nah, you?"

"No." Daniel replied, getting a bit more nervous. Johnny walked over to the door and cautiously opened it. Standing at the door was someone who made all of their eyes widen, but it wasn't Kreese. It was none other than Tory Nichols!

The Larussos all immediately tensed up at the sight of her, but Tory didn't seem like she was there to fight. They didn't know if she was even still hating on Sam, to be honest. That didn't take away the fact that Sam was still terrified of her though. Sam's heart started pounding and she slipped a hand into Miguel's, and he squeezed it reassuringly. To be fair, Tory was there at the hospital as Miguel got surgery that first night, but nobody had seen her since, not even Robby. She had been so overcome with guilt about everything that had happened. She blamed herself. Then, when she got the text from Robby that they were going after Kreese, she knew that this could help her make amends. She was going to help them find Kreese, or die trying!

"Tory, what are you doing here?" Johnny asked, no anger evident in his voice. He didn't have anything against her anymore. She had been there in the fire with Miguel and Robby, and she had helped them fight Kreese right before. Miguel and Robby had told him all about how she had turned her back on Kreese that night.

"I heard you guys were going after Kreese." She said. "I want to help."

"Absolutely not!" Amanda exclaimed. "You seriously have the nerve to come here after everything you've done to our daughter?!"

Tory sighed and looked down. She regretted everything she had done to Sam SO MUCH, but she knew that she had to first reap the consequences before she could move on.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I, um… I took things way too far and I…"

"Yeah, damn right you took things too far!" Amanda shouted.

"Hey, you know, this might not actually be a bad idea." Johnny stated, rationally. Daniel spun around to face him, his eyes blazing.

"You can't be serious, Johnny?!" He exclaimed. Johnny nodded.

"I am. Nichols knows Kreese better than any of us, bar me and Robby. If anyone can help us find him, it'll be her."

Daniel scowled at Johnny for several moments, before turning back to Tory, who was standing there nervously and awkwardly, listening to every word they were saying. After a long silence, Daniel slowly opened the door wider and faced Tory.

"You come near my daughter or any member of my family and you'll regret it, you hear me? I'll have you in juvie faster than you can blink." Daniel threatened. Tory nodded and followed the group into the house…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Have you guys tried the homeless shelter he used to live in?" Tory asked as they sat around in the living room. The Larussos sat on one side of the room and Tory sat on the other side, Miguel, Johnny and Robby stuck in the middle as the bridge between them.

"Yeah, the police already went there. He hasn't been there in nearly 6 months." Johnny replied.

"Okay, what about any of Silver's properties?" Tory asked.

"Silver owns 8 places in the Greater Los Angeles area. Police have already checked all 8 of them. Kreese isn't there." Daniel replied.

"What about his place?" Tory asked. "Does he even have an apartment? I literally have no idea."

"Yeah, I crashed at his place once a couple of months ago. I already gave the police the address. He's not there." Robby said. The group then stared at the frustratingly empty board containing everything they knew about Kreese, and they all sighed.

"This is useless! If the cops couldn't find him, what chance do we have!" Demitri cried.

Miguel shot up in his chair. His eyes widened. He had an idea! It was a long shot. A VERY long shot. But it was an idea.

"You guys, I think I might have an idea." Miguel murmured. "Or at least a starting point to possibly leapfrog off from."

"Really? What is it?" Johnny asked. Miguel took a deep breath.

"Well, we've been going about this all wrong. We've been trying to figure out where he is in a similar way the cops would, right?"

"Sure. What's the problem with that?" Hawk asked.

"Well, we're tracking an absolute psycho. So to do that, we need to get into the mind of a psycho. And to do that, we're going to need the help of a psycho."

As Miguel said this, Sam subtly side glanced at Tory, who noticed and glared at her.

"Seriously, Larusso?! I literally saw that!" Tory snapped. Sam shrugged and Tory balled her hands into fists, but Robby quickly pulled her down and stopped her from lunging at Sam.

"Look, Sam, Tory, stop. I'm not talking about either of you." Miguel said. "I'm talking about someone who is certifiably insane. Someone who knew Kreese. Someone who Kreese visited every month for the past couple of months on Visiting Day."

Johnny realised who Miguel was talking about, and his eyes widened.

"No! No way! Miguel, that's such a dumb idea!" He exclaimed. Miguel nodded.

"I never said it was a good idea. But we're literally stuck at square 1 right now. Maybe this could be what we need to kickstart this search." Miguel stated.

"Why in God's name would he help us?!" Johnny snapped. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but last time you saw him, you broke his arm and you knocked his ass out."

Miguel shrugged.

"I don't know. It can't hurt to try though, right?"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The next morning, Miguel, Sam, Daniel, Robby and Johnny walked into California State Penitentiary together, and they sat down in front of the plexiglass window. Moments later, a familiar middle-aged Ecuadorian man sat opposite them, a cast on his left arm and a black eye still evident on his face from the last time him and Miguel had met. He slowly raised the plastic phone to his ear.

"Hello, Miguel." The man drawled. Miguel, who was slightly pale, took a deep breath and nodded at the man.

"Hey, Dad. We need your help…"


	45. Chapter 45

Miguel and his dad stared at each other, and Miguel didn't know if it was just him seeing things, but he saw something in his father's eyes that he had never seen before: there was happiness that Miguel had come to visit, and regret for all he had done. That didn't take away the rage Miguel felt as he looked at the man. Nothing would ever quench the hatred Miguel felt boiling inside him when he looked at the man who had traumatised him for so long.

"Miguel. I'm glad you came." His father said, almost actually sounding genuine. "Other than Kreese, no one has come to visit me since I got in here."

"Well that's what happens when you try and kill your son, your wife and then later your son's stepfather. People don't want to be around you anymore." Miguel stated. "And I wouldn't be here if I didn't really need you. Look, I'm going to cut to the chase. We're looking for Kreese and I was wondering if you had any idea where he was."

"I haven't seen Kreese since that day of the tournament." Miguel's dad stated.

"Did he ever mention any place he would stay at?" Daniel asked. Miguel's dad shook his head.

"No. He never told me anything like that. The whole idea with the All-Valley was not to break me out of jail. It was purely to psych Miguel out, and that brawl was not planned either."

"And you're sure he hasn't mentioned anything about where he is?" Johnny asked again. Miguel's dad nodded.

"I'm sure." He replied. The group then all stood up.

"Well, that was useless. It was a good try, Miguel. Some leads just don't pan out." Daniel said to Miguel, who still hadn't gotten up yet. Miguel looked at his father for several moments before turning to the group.

"Could you guys wait outside for a moment? I want to talk to my dad alone." Miguel said. The group slowly nodded.

"You gonna be okay?" Johnny asked. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah. Just wait for me outside. I'll be right there." Miguel said. The group then left the visiting centre and Miguel turned back to his father, switching to speaking in Spanish in case anyone was listening.

"Okay. It's just us. Those _pendejos_ are gone." Miguel told his dad. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time... do you have any idea where Kreese is?"

"Kreese never told me where he was living." Miguel's father replied again. Miguel tutted and shook his head.

"That's not what I'm asking though." Miguel murmured. "Do you know why I came to you for help? There are a handful of people who know Kreese as well as you do. Why would I come to the person I hate most in the world?"

"I don't know." His dad answered honestly.

"Because Kreese is a psychopath. He has no regard for human life. He doesn't care about who lives and who dies. You are the only person I know who also thinks that way. Let me rephrase the question for you… if you were Kreese in this situation, what would you do?"

Miguel's father looked at his desperate son and he took a deep breath. Despite everything, he was extremely remorseful for everything. His abusive ways had started due to his anger issues on top of him losing his job. He had lashed out, and then he couldn't find a way to stop. Miguel and his mom fleeing to L.A and then remarrying had just been a massive slap in the face to him and he let his IMMENSE anger issues get in the way of everything. Despite everything, he did still love his son, and he always would.

"Okay. You want to know what I would honestly do in his place?" Miguel's dad asked.

"Yeah. And I can tell if you're lying so you better not." Miguel snapped. His father nodded.

"Well, actually, I was on the run in Ecuador for about 6 months a couple of years ago due to drug stealing. It wasn't from the police. It was from a rival gang. My gang had poached their shipment from the cartel, so they had declared war on us. But you know me. I don't like to fight. So do you know where I hid the whole time?"

"Where?" Miguel asked.

"I hid at the last place people would expect me to be: the place I have an emotional connection with."

"Our house in Ecuador." Miguel realised. His dad nodded.

"Yeah. I hid there and waited it out. So if I could give you one piece of advice for finding Kreese… find places he has an emotional connection to."

Miguel slowly nodded. He completely understood where his father was coming from. Only problem was that they knew next to nothing about Kreese, and they had no idea who or what he had an attachment to.

"Thank you." Miguel said, genuinely, to his father. As his father looked at his son and thought about everything he had done to him, tears started to spill over his dad's eyes. When Miguel saw this, his heart stopped.

"I'm so sorry, Miguel." His dad whispered, tears rolling down his cheeks. "For everything I've done to our family."

Miguel scowled at him, standing up.

"I'm not your family. And I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the case." Miguel growled.

"I know you hate me. You have the right." His dad said. "But I want you to know… I still think of you as a son."

Miguel shook his head.

"You shouldn't do that. You mean nothing to me." Miguel spat, before walking out of the visiting centre. As soon as he walked out the door, the rest of the group stood up and immediately approached him. They all saw the troubled look on his face and they looked at him, concerned.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, extremely concerned. Miguel nodded.

"Fine." He responded, gruffly. "And I have a lead…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Okay, so according to Miguel's dad, we should be looking for places that Kreese has an emotional connection to." Daniel announced to the group later that day. It was the middle of summer break so thankfully none of them had school, so they were able to sit around in the Larusso house and spent all of their time on this case.

"Who the hell is so monumentally stupid that they have an emotional connection with Kreese?" Demitri remarked.

"Hey! They could have been manipulated." Robby stated.

"Yeah. If we know one thing about Kreese, it's that he's very good at talking and always gets his way." Tory stated. Miguel shook his head.

"No, no, no. It's not like that. It's got to be something he has a genuine connection to. It can't be someone he's manipulated. He wasn't born an asshole." Miguel stated, standing up. He then walked over to the whiteboard and erased all of the little information that was on there. Everyone exclaimed protests as Miguel had removed the little progress they had done. It was a list of people Kreese could possibly have a connection to.

"Dude, what the hell?! We worked all day on that list!" Hawk exclaimed.

"It's useless." Miguel replied. "We keep looking at people Kreese might currently have a connection with. I knew Kreese for less than three months and I'm sorry, that man has NO friends."

"We don't know that for sure though." Daniel said. Miguel nodded.

"That's fair. But it's pretty unlikely. Just hear me out. Let's look at this logically… Kreese was also the manipulative bastard he is today 20 years ago. That leads me to believe that whatever connections he might have had would occur before that time."

"Miguel has a point." Johnny remarked. "He was just as big of a jackass back when we were kids as he is now."

"Exactly." Miguel nodded. "And also… if I'm not mistaken, Johnny, didn't you tell me that Kreese's glory days back in his early 20s, when he was in the Army?"

"Yeah, he would go on and on about his heroics and how he was given the medal of honor. So?" Johnny asked.

"So, how does someone who was a Medal of Honor receiving hero in 'Nam suddenly become our Kreese? Something happened to him towards the end of his service or right after. _That's_ the time period we should be looking at." Miguel said, before sitting back down and leaving a flummoxed Daniel and Johnny gaping at him.

"Son of a bitch he's right." Amanda murmured.

"Miguel, that was amazing!" Johnny stammered. Miguel shrugged.

"I don't know. It might not even be right." Miguel said.

"It might not be, but it's definitely a start." Demitri said. "So what do we do now?"

"Well…" Daniel said, taking charge again. "A reasonable place to start would be looking into Army records to see any information we can find about Kreese's service. Maybe an Army buddy that he was particularly close with. Let's split this up. Demitri and Hawk… you two try and find anything you can find about Kreese before he enlisted. Robby and Miguel… you two see what you can find about Kreese's time in 'Nam. Tory and Sam… you two see what you can find about his life after."

Everyone's eyes widened. Daniel was seriously putting Sam and Tory together? Although Miguel and Robby had warmed up to each other and had become one of the most effective partnerships in the group, Sam and Tory had NOT been as sold about each other at all. Maybe it was because Miguel and Robby were step brothers. Maybe it was because they had already redeemed each other by saving each other's lives. Maybe it was because they had already fought side-by-side against Kreese. Whatever it was, it wasn't rubbing off on Sam and Tory, and it was a massive gamble pairing the two of them together. They would either find a way to work together… or they would kill each other.

"Daniel, are you sure about this?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, dad, are you sure about this?" Sam asked, nervously. Daniel nodded. He was. He remembered back in Miyagi-Do, the only way to get the ex-Cobras and the original Miyagi-Dos was to have them work together.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He stated, confidently.

"Oh, boy, this is going to be interesting." Hawk murmured to Miguel, who nodded. It sure was…


	46. Chapter 46

"Any progress?" Miguel asked the next morning as he walked into Johnny's apartment and into the living room, where him and Robby were working. Because Robby was staying at Johnny's apartment, it made no sense for them to go all the way to Encino to work at the Larusso house to do exactly the same work they could do at home.

Miguel sat next to Robby, and the two poured over their laptops. They were in charge of researching Kreese's time in 'Nam but they weren't having that much luck.

Robby nodded at Miguel.

"Yeah, actually I've made a fair bit." Robby said. Miguel raised an eyebrow.

"Really? What you got?" Miguel asked, sitting next to him.

"Well… I managed to get a hold of all of the declassified information from Kreese's time in 'Nam." Robby said. Miguel's eyes widened.

"You did? How? Why did they disclose that information to you?" Miguel asked. Robby grinned.

"Well, you know how Kreese is technically, legally dead in their books? Apparently, even the military is kind of lenient towards young boys who never got to meet their action hero grandfather before he passed away. I just had to act out that lie for one email, and I got sent whatever I wanted."

Miguel laughed and clapped his hands.

"Respect, man. Mad respect." Miguel laughed. "All right. So I guess we just start diving into the files, right?"

Robby nodded.

"Yeah, let's do it. There's a shit ton though. Like at least 80 pages of stuff. We need a way to organise everything. Any ideas?" Robby said. Miguel nodded.

"Yeah, why don't we print all of the files out and we can make a physical timeline with them to organise them. Then, it'll be easier for us to go through each year."

Robby nodded.

"Great idea. Wow, it pays off to be working with a nerd for once." He remarked.

"Hey! Yo! Not cool!" Miguel snapped. Robby laughed.

"Trust me, it's a compliment. You should've seen my old friends Trey and Cruz. They make candles look intelligent."

Miguel laughed.

"Wow. They seem like… interesting guys." He replied. Robby chuckled and nodded.

"All right. Let's get to work…"

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"All right, Tory, let's do this." Sam snapped, sitting beside Tory in the living room that afternoon. The two girls were ready to start working together, but the tension between them was so palpable that it could be cut with a knife. They hadn't sorted out their issues yet like Miguel and Robby had, and because of that, they couldn't work together very well.

"Okay, so where do we start?" Tory asked.

"Well, we're looking into his life immediately after 'Nam but before he opened Cobra Kai. Therefore, we need to figure out what he was doing, where he was living, anything we can about that period of time."

"Got it." Tory said. She then started to reach for her laptop that was on the living room table, and she noticed Sam flinch in fear as Tory moved closer to her to grab the computer.

Tory sighed in annoyance and glared at Sam.

"Seriously, Larusso?! For the last fucking time, I'm not gonna hurt you!" Tory spat. Sam sighed.

"I know. Look, I'm sorry. It's just, you spent the past year trying to kill me. You absolutely terrorised me. I can't just forget about that in an instant." Sam said. Tory stood up.

"Okay, get up. We're going on a field trip." Tory stated. Sam slowly stood up, confused.

"I'm sorry, what?" Sam asked. Tory pulled Sam towards the door and practically shoved her into her car. Sam looked at Tory, nervously.

"Um… Tory? Are you kidnapping me? People know where I am!" Sam exclaimed. Tory rolled her eyes and glared at her.

"Sam, shut up. I'm not kidnapping you." Tory snapped. She started driving and 15 minutes later, they pulled into an extremely rough neighborhood. As Sam got out of the car, she looked at her surroundings, slightly scared. The sun was starting to set and this looked exactly the kind of place where she would be mugged.

"Tory, um… where are we?" Sam asked as they approached a compound.

"We're at my house, Larusso." Tory replied, watching Sam's jaw drop slightly and Tory chuckled. "Yeah, that's right. Not all of us live in palaces."

"Why did you bring me here?" Sam asked. Tory didn't answer, and just unlocked the door and walked into the apartment. When Sam walked in, her eyes widened. It wasn't like Sam was expecting knives, axes and daggers on the wall, but the apartment was still a lot brighter than she expected. Toys were littered all over the floor, light streamed in from the windows, and there was quiet music playing in the house. Suddenly, a young boy, no older than 8, rushed out of one of the rooms and he flew into Tory's arms. Tory chuckled as she hugged him.

"Hey, Willie, how was your day?" Tory asked, in a soft, sweet tone that Sam didn't even recognise.

"It was awesome! Luke and I went and we played basketball all day! I scored 9 three point shots!" The boy, Will, shouted in delight.

"9?! That's amazing! That's your new best!" Tory exclaimed, before turning to Sam. "Sam, this is my younger brother, Will. Will, this is Sam."

"Hi, Sam." Will waved at her, before unexpectedly throwing his arms around her and hugging her tightly. Sam, taken aback, hugged him back.

"Hi, Will! How's it going?" She asked.

"Good!" Will exclaimed.

"Okay, Will, go decide on a restaurant to order dinner from." Tory said.

"Pizza!" Will shouted, clapping his hands in delight. Tory laughed.

"Pizza? Okay, go decide what pizza you want." Tory said. Will sprinted out of the room and Tory chuckled. Once he was gone, Sam turned to Tory.

"He's a really sweet kid." Sam remarked. Tory nodded.

"Yeah. Will's awesome. Here, I want you to meet someone else." Tory said, before walking Sam over to a room in the corner of the house and knocking on the door.

"Come in!" A faint voice called. Tory walked in, and when Sam followed her in, she couldn't help but gasp quietly. Lying on a bed in the middle of the room was a middle-aged woman, who was connected to a blood transfusion machine.

"Sam, this is my mom. Mom, this is Sam Larusso. A… friend of mine." Tory said, saying the word 'friend' rather reluctantly.

"Hi, um… nice to meet you." Sam said, quickly getting over her shock of seeing the frail woman connected to all of those machines. After a quick conversation with Tory's mom, the two girls left the room and when they were out the room, Sam turned to Tory.

"Um… Tory? What does your mom…"

"Dialysis." Tory answered before Sam even finished the question. "She doesn't have longer than a year left. I have to work 3 jobs to earn enough money to pay my mom's hospital bills and pay for my family's livelihood. So if you ever think I'm gonna hurt you from now on, I'm not. Because if I do, I'll be dumped in juvie and I won't be able to ever see my family - the only people I care about in this world - again. My mom won't be able to afford her own hospital bills. My brother will probably be put in the foster care system. So whenever I get angry and snap at you or anyone, just know that it's because I have a lot on my mind."

Sam was speechless. She couldn't believe Tory was going through so much in her life. Before today, all Sam thought Tory was was a selfish, possessive bitch who took things WAY too far in the school fight. Suddenly, Sam understood why Tory did what she did, even if she didn't agree with it. Tory was used to fighting for every little thing that was hers in life. She was used to putting a wall around her emotions in front of everyone in the world. Lowering that wall and letting Miguel in, only to be betrayed by him when he kissed Sam had caused her to explode.

Sam's mouth had gone dry, but she eventually managed to string two words together once she was over her shock.

"Tory, I… um… I'm really sorry. I didn't realise you were going through so much." Sam stammered. Tory shrugged.

"It's fine. I don't advertise it. I just get on with my fucking life." Tory stated. Sam nodded, a new-found appreciation for the woman and her old fear of her forgotten…

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The next morning, as people in the Larusso house started to wake up, Miguel was downstairs. He had been there all night, working extremely hard to create a timeline of every single known move Kreese had made from the moment he enlisted to the moment he burned down the dojo. He had used the information collected by the group to put together a timeline of events, going from Kreese's enlistment to Kreese's creation of Cobra Kai. The various sheets of paper took up the whole living room in the Larusso house.

"Miguel, what are you doing here?" Daniel asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he came downstairs that morning. Miguel turned towards him, exhausted. Miguel hadn't slept a wink that night while he was working, and it clearly showed.

"Oh, hey, Mr. Larusso." Miguel murmured.

"Woah, you look exhausted! Did you even go home last night?" Daniel asked. Miguel shook his head.

"Nah, I was working on this. Look at this, Mr. Larusso." Miguel said, pointing to the massive timeline he had made. Daniel walked over to him, and his eyes widened as he stared at Miguel's findings. One thing was glaringly obvious: there was a period of around a year, when Kreese didn't surface into public but one or two times. The LAPD had given them access to a lot of their old resources, so the empty year period was even more obvious as the activities in the time around it increased. Miguel had made the color of the timeline a rainbow: red was during Kreese's enlistment; orange was his training; yellow was deployment in 'Nam; green was his disappearance period of around a year; blue was when he first opened Cobra Kai; and purple was present day.

"Jesus, Miguel, you made this?! This is incredible!" Daniel exclaimed as he looked at the extremely helpful visual aid Miguel had made.

"Thanks." Miguel murmured, yawning enormously.

"Okay, so, I think we can gather that something happened in this zone." Daniel said, pointing to the empty green spot right after Kreese was discharged.

"He went quiet for the whole year. No public activities. Nothing." Miguel said. "But then he came to life again with purpose. More than ever. He invented Cobra Kai with Silver, and his evil-Kreese reign began."

"But why the hibernation? What happened?" Daniel asked.

"Johnny and I discovered that he was taken as a POW for a couple of days right at the end of his enlistment." Daniel stated. "Maybe his disappearance was due to injury? Or health?"

"Or loss." Miguel murmured, suddenly standing up. "Tragedy. He was mourning during the year. And then blue - opening Cobra Kai - was revenge. It was a plan."

"And now… the purple." Daniel said, pointing to the final color shade on the timeline, which was present day. "He's ready to end this war. So who did he mourn for a whole year? A soldier buddy?"

Miguel shook his head.

"No. He lost more than 200 of his own men in the Vietnam War. One more isn't making a difference to him." Miguel murmured.

"So who?" Daniel asked.

"It's in here. The answer is in here." Miguel said, jabbing at that blank green spot and racking his brain frantically. "I can feel it. I know what the answer is. I just… I got it!"

"What is it?" Daniel asked, intrigued by the way Miguel's mind was flowing. Miguel's brain was working like no one Daniel had ever met before. After this all was over, he was 100% hiring Miguel to work at his dealership. They could use people like Miguel.

"Mr. Larusso, who does Kreese never attack?" Miguel asked. Daniel furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked. Miguel smiled widely, relieved, and he sat back on the sofa.

"Think about it. We've seen Kreese attack all kinds of people. Old people. Young people. All races. But there is one thing Kreese will never do, and that is allow violence towards a woman." Miguel stated. "Think about it. When your wife slapped him across the face, he did nothing. According to Tory, when her landlord was harassing her, Kreese stepped in and stopped it immediately. Kreese has had plenty of opportunities, but he always refrains around women. However, according to our timeline, he has not had a girlfriend of any kind since his Army days, where he had a long-time girlfriend named Betsy Rose…"

"Who died in a car crash right before his mourning period began." Daniel finished. He smiled widely at Miguel. "So Betsy died right before he was discharged. She's the one person he has a connection with. If we find her old location, we find Kreese…"

"Bingo." Miguel smiled, lying back on the sofa and falling asleep immediately from exhaustion…


	47. Chapter 47

"Oh, my God. I can't believe I got it." Miguel murmured to himself, pacing around the room triumphantly. At this point, Amanda and Sam had come downstairs too, and Daniel had briefed them on everything that Miguel had discovered. Because it wasn't Daniel who had made the breakthrough, he wasn't very good at explaining it. And Miguel was no help. He seemed to be in some kind of a trance, and he was completely out of it. Sam slowly got up and walked over to him, taking his hands in her own.

"Okay, Miguel, calm down. Slow down and explain everything." Sam said, calmly. She seemed to be able to break Miguel out of the trance he was in. Before he could start to explain, the door to the house swung open and Johnny and Robby walked into the house.

"Yo, Larusso, why'd you call us?" Johnny asked as him and Robby walked into the living room.

"Your amazing step-son just solved the whole case!" Daniel exclaimed. Johnny and Robby turned to Miguel, astonished.

"You did?!" Johnny exclaimed. Miguel slowly nodded. He seemed to be extremely preoccupied. Like he was having some kind of internal battle in his head.

"Well, what did you find out?" Robby asked, eagerly. "And please explain in English. I don't speak nerd."

Miguel rolled his eyes and began talking in an extremely quiet tone. He didn't seem to be too well. He was extremely pale, and beads of sweat gleaned on his forehead. He looked pretty sick, to be honest.

"I, um… I used all of the information we have to make a rainbow timeline of Kreese's life. Red was his enlistment, orange was his training; yellow was deployment in 'Nam; blue was when he first opened Cobra Kai; and purple was present day. As you can see, there is a green period of around a year that he doesn't go out in public at all."

"Maybe it was because he was recovering from when he was taken as a POW at the end of his tour in Vietnam?" Robby suggested. Miguel suggested.

"Nah. Kreese has lost hundreds of his own men in 'Nam. It wasn't that. It was the death of his girlfriend Betsy Rose during the time he was deployed. Kreese was mourning her death. That's why he didn't go out in public too much. Then, when he did come out a year later, it was with new fire, and it was all about vengeance and revenge."

"But how are you sure it was about his girlfriend? I mean, no offense but Kreese doesn't really seem like the kind of person who dates." Johnny remarked. Miguel nodded.

"Let me paint you guys a picture." Miguel mumbled. "Kreese is a young teenager from an extremely poor neighborhood. His dad left his family when he was very young, and his mom - a woman suffering from dementia - killed herself all before he was even 14. That's bound to cause some severe abandonment issues. Now, Kreese is forced to work 12 hours a day to support himself without parents. He meets a girl, a girl who is able to see past all of his issues and love him anyways. Then he joins the Army and gets deployed to 'Nam, and he goes through ALL of the shit he goes through in Special Ops, holding onto the single string that his girlfriend is waiting for him back home. _That's_ the reason he stayed alive. _That's_ how he survived being imprisoned. But then, after being discharged from the military as a hero, he finds out that the one person who didn't abandon him during the tough times, the one person who gave him a reason to live, has died in a car crash months ago. That's enough to really fuck up someone's life. And it makes sense too. Why is Kreese, a man who was willing to kill 3 kids, not willing to EVER lay a hand on a woman? Why did Kreese risk his livelihood to threaten Tory's jackass landlord? It all revolves around Betsy. And then, after a year of mourning, he was ready for revenge. He hated everyone. He wanted to die. But first, he needed to get revenge on the world for royally fucking him."

With that, Miguel collapsed back onto the sofa. He was absolutely exhausted. He could feel his mental illness bubbling up inside him, but he forced himself to push it away. Not now. He couldn't go crazy right now.

"What the fuck? That's it! That's actually it! Miguel, you genius!" Robby exclaimed. Miguel didn't feel like a genius though. He felt like he was about to pass out from the effort of holding back his brain. Miguel suddenly got up.

"I'm sorry. I've got to go." He murmured, before sprinting out of the house. As he left, the group all looked at each other worried and confused. What was going on with Miguel? He did not look okay!

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Miguel sped over to his house, sprinted inside and immediately collapsed on his bed. He could feel the manicness rising inside him and the only way he knew how to get rid of it was sleeping. He fell asleep right away, not even pulling the blanket on top of him or anything. He literally fell asleep before his head even hit the pillow, ignoring his mom who was extremely concerned when he ran inside. She knew about his sickness, but she was the only one.

A couple of hours later, when Miguel hadn't yet come back to the Larusso House, the group started to get extremely worried. They all drove over to Miguel's house, and they knocked on the door. Carmen opened it, surprised to see them.

"Oh, um… hi. Can I help you guys?" She asked.

"Is Miguel okay?" Johnny asked, immediately, as him, Daniel, Sam, Robby, Amanda stood in the doorway.

"Yeah, he's just sleeping. Why?" Carmen asked.

"Um… Carmen, Miguel didn't look very well this morning." Johnny said. Carmen looked at him, confused, for several moments before realisation dawned on her. Her mouth made a massive 'O' and she slowly nodded.

"Let me guess… Miguel solved a massive problem that none of you guys could solve. He put together pieces of a puzzle that none of you could see, but then right after, he looked really ill like he was about to pass out?"

Everyone nodded.

"Yeah, exactly! Is he okay?" Daniel asked. Carmen opened the door, wider.

"Why don't you guys come in? We need to talk…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"So what's wrong with Miguel? You don't seem very surprised about any of this." Johnny remarked as the group all sat in the living room. Carmen shook her head.

"No, I'm not. I remember Miguel was 6 years old, I gave him a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle and he completed it within 3 hours. And then he was extremely sick for a couple of weeks." Carmen stated. "We knew there was something different about him that day so we took him to a bunch of doctors. They all ended up diagnosing Miguel with an uncommon mental health disorder called…"

"Low Latent Inhibition." Miguel stated. Everyone jumped in surprise and spun around to see Miguel walking out of his room and walking over to them.

"What is it?" Robby asked, at a loss. He had no idea what Low Latent Inhibition was. Well, none of them did.

"It basically is a disorder that allows me to see things differently to everyone else." Miguel said, before walking over to them and pointing to the lamp that was in the corner of the room. "Like for example, you look at this lamp and you see just a lamp, right? But when I see the lamp, I see the stem, the bulb, the bolts, the mechanisms inside. That's why I want to be a Formula 1 race car engineer when I'm older. I see small parts and I connect them to form a big object really well."

"Wait… that's like a superpower!" Robby exclaimed. Miguel shook his head.

"There are drawbacks, trust me. You guys have it easy. You can walk around and look at various things and just see them how they are. A table. A chair. A lamp. Etc. But for me, seeing every small part of every object is exhausting and terrifying so I force myself to see things the way you do, only using my abilities when I really, really need to. As my doctor said, using my illness on occasion can cause high level creative achieving. But using it too much can easily cause psychosis. I pushed myself too far last night and I could feel a manic episode coming on, hence me running out."

Everyone was shocked, but not exactly surprised. Miguel had always been extraordinarily good at solving puzzles and putting things together. Abnormally so. They just didn't realise everything he went through on a daily basis.

"Oh, my God. Miguel, I'm so sorry. We had no idea." Johnny said. Miguel shook his head and shrugged.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. And besides, I've found a way to channel it so it does work as a gift a lot of the time like Robby said. It's just on occasion that I push myself too far, and all it takes is a nap to get my head back to normal. All right, now, are we ready to get back to work? We have practically no information about Betsy Rose and if we want to find Kreese, we're gonna need to find some."

Miguel was trying to change the subject. He did NOT like talking about his mental health disorder. Even the word 'mental health disorder' made him feel like he should be in an insane asylum, and the looks of pity and sympathy he would get back in Ecuador when people would find out about it were not nice at all. That's why nobody in L.A knew about it but his mom. Well, his mom and now the whole group.

Daniel sensed Miguel was trying to change the topic and he nodded.

"Yeah, Miguel's right. Everyone try and find any information you can about Betsy Rose, and her relationship with Kreese. Let's get to work…"

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For the next couple of days, the group started looking for any information about Betsy they could, but with little to no success. Despite being granted access to the LAPD's resources, there really wasn't much to look for as Betsy had died almost 50 years ago.

The group sat in the Larusso house around a week later, trying desperately to find any information they possibly could about Kreese and Betsy. Miguel needed some air and he wanted peace and quiet so he walked out into the Larusso backyard, and he sat on a chair at the lawn table, pouring over his laptop and his notes. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn't even notice someone slipping into the chair opposite him.

"Hey." The person said. Miguel jumped in shock, and his head snapped up to see Amanda sitting opposite him. She laughed when she saw his reaction. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

"It's fine, Mrs. Larusso." Miguel laughed. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"About 5 minutes." Amanda replied honestly, laughing. "You hadn't noticed and I didn't want to disturb you."

"Well, I guess if I didn't notice you for 5 whole minutes, that's a sign that I should take a break." Miguel remarked. "What's up?"

Amanda looked at him and took a deep breath.

"So I've been doing some research on Low Latent Inhibition for the past week and then I looked at the Kreese puzzle you had put together. You know you're certifiably a genius, Miguel."

Miguel laughed.

"Wow, thanks. Just a little bit of exaggeration there, huh?" Miguel replied. Amanda shook her head.

"No, I'm serious! Apparently, according to a LOT of websites I read, people who are able to channel their disorder like you can… they go on to do incredible things in life. And based on what you did last week, you're definitely one of those people, Miguel."

"Aww, that's sweet. Thanks. It means a lot." Miguel responded.

"Miguel, you've done so much for my family. I'm not talking about the stupid, dumbass karate war…"

"Ouch, that one hurts." Miguel joked, clutching his chest. Amanda laughed and continued.

"...That those two man-children inside started. I'm talking about how happy you've made Sam this year. You've had a massive positive impact on my daughter, and I wanted to thank you for it. I remembered that you said last week that you wanted to be a supercar engineer when you grew up. As you know, Daniel and I own the biggest dealership in the Valley, so I have quite a few contacts in that community. I made a few calls, pulled a few strings, and I got you an internship at the McLaren dealership."

Miguel's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" Miguel stammered. Amanda couldn't help but laugh at the flabbergasted expression on his face, and she nodded.

"Yup. It doesn't pay that much, but it's definitely a starting point for you if you want to become an F1 car engineer one day. It's completely up to you whether you want to take the job or not…"

"Are you kidding? Of course I'd love to take the job!" Miguel exclaimed. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Larusso!"

"No problem. It was my pleasure." Amanda replied, giving him a hug. "You've done so much for my daughter and my husband. You deserve it."

Miguel's eyes widened.

"Husband… Husband… Husband… Holy Crap! Mrs. Larusso, you genius! That's it!" Miguel exclaimed, running over to his laptop and typing wildly.

"I'm sorry, what?" Amanda asked, completely at a loss. Moments later, Miguel stopped typing, and he sat back in his chair, triumphantly.

"Boom. Did it. I found Kreese." Miguel stated. Amanda was even more confused.

"Huh?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"Well, I found out a while ago that Kreese and Betsy actually got eloped around halfway through Kreese's tour when he got a month of vacation time. When they got eloped, they had their marriage certificate mailed to their first place together because this was well before email, right? So I now just went to the courthouse website, clicked 'lost marriage certificate', and it automatically offered to send the new one to the same location as the last one, which is… 399 W 9th St, San Bernardino, California…"


	48. Chapter 48

**_CHAPTER 48_ **

“Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys! Guys!” Miguel exclaimed as him and Amanda ran into the living room. “We found him!”

  
The whole group turned to them, confused.   
  
“Huh? You two found Kreese?” Daniel asked, surprised. After a week of no luck, they had all but given up on finding Kreese, but of course it was Miguel who managed to find Kreese and breathe new life into the group. 

“Well, he found Kreese. I was just there.” Amanda stated.    
  
“Why does that not surprise me?” Sam laughed. “Miguel, what did he find?”   
  
“Well, I used his marriage certificate with Betsy to find the location of the first house the two of them lived in together. He bought the property and he never sold it after she died. It’s not inhabited right now so there’s a good chance he’s staying there. Kreese knows we’re after him, so he’s choosing to hide in plain sight. And it correlates perfectly with what my dad said. My dad said to search for Kreese’s emotional connections. This house is one of the only places in the world that he has a genuine emotional connection to, just like Betsy is the only person he ever truly loved. He’s there. I can feel it.”

The group slowly nodded, standing up in anticipation. This was it. Nearly a month of searching they had finally found Kreese. They were sure of it. He HAD to be there. If he wasn’t then they would probably just have to give up and be looking over their shoulder in fear for the rest of their lives. 

“Okay! For about the thousandth time, amazing work, Miguel.” Johnny said. Miguel clicked his heels together and saluted playfully. “Now, it’s time to get that son of a bitch once and for all.”

“Do we call the cops?” Daniel asked. Johnny shook his head.

  
“That’s not a good idea. All we have right now is a tiny hunch that Kreese is there. We’d be risking a 10 thousand dollar ban if he isn’t. We can bring him down ourselves.” Johnny stated. Daniel looked at him, nervously.

  
“Are you sure about that?” Daniel asked. “We’re NOT going to get the kids involved, and I’m not sure I want to risk a 2 on 1 against that man.”   
  
Johnny smirked and shrugged.

  
“Who said it’s just the two of us…”

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An hour later, Jimmy, Bobby and Julie had all pulled up to Daniel’s house, and they all prepared to set out and catch Kreese once and for all. Because this was real life, not a tournament, and they were going up against a VERY dangerous man, they couldn’t just go into the fight unprotected and empty-handed. They all wore bullet-proof vests that Daniel had bought on Amazon when they first started hunting Kreese in case they had to have this confrontation; and they all carried stun guns too. 

Right before they left the house, the 5 adults turned to Robby, Miguel, Sam and Tory.

  
“Okay, you guys stay here. We’ll be back soon.” Johnny said.

  
“Like hell. We’re coming.” Tory snapped.

“No, you’re not.” Daniel stated. “What we’re about to do is really dangerous.”   
  
“Which is exactly why you’re gonna need all the help you can get.” Robby stated. Daniel shook his head.

  
“Nope. We can’t risk losing you guys. You’re staying here and that’s final.” Daniel stated. “Sam, give me your car keys.”   
  
Sam reluctantly tossed her dad her keys. She was the only one with a car in the driveway (Miguel had ridden in Johnny’s car) so when she gave her dad the keys, the adults knew there was no way the teenagers could follow them. 

  
The adults left the house moments later, speeding towards Kreese’s old house, where they hoped the man would be hiding…

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**15 minutes later...**

“Hey guys.” Miguel said, looking up from his phone momentarily to face the group. They were all sitting impotently in the Larusso living room. It had been 15 minutes since the adults had left for San Bernardino and given that it was a 45 minute drive to get there, the adults probably hadn’t even made it yet. That didn’t take away the fact that the seconds dragged by insanely slowly. For all they knew, any of the adults, or Kreese, could be captured or killed by now.

“What?” Robby asked.   
  
“I got a joke.” Miguel stated. “What did the shark say after eating the clownfish?”   
  
“I don’t know. What did the shark say?” Sam sighed, humoring Miguel.

  
“He said it tasted a little ‘funny’.” Miguel finished, drily. Sam put her head in her hands, trying not to laugh - not because the joke was funny - but because of how monotonous Miguel said it.

“This is bullshit!” Tory exclaimed.

“What? You didn’t like my joke?” Miguel asked, bored.

“Miguel, shut up. We can’t just sit around here like little bitches and wait for the adults to do all of our dirty work for us!” Tory exclaimed.

“What do you want, Tory? What do you want us to do?” Sam growled.   
  
“Tory’s right. We need to go do something! We need to go help them!” Miguel said. 

“That’s great. I agree with you, but it’s not like we can.” Sam replied. “My dad took my car keys.”   
  
“I might have an idea.” Robby said, suddenly standing up and walking outside. The group followed him outside and watched as Robby circled Sam’s car like a Hawk. Moments later, the engine of Sam’s car revved up as it started, with Robby in the driver’s seat. The group all watched him, their mouths gaping and their eyes wide. They slowly walked towards him.

  
“Wow, Robby. Didn’t realise you know how to steal cars.” Miguel remarked. Robby shrugged.   
  
“You have your skills, I have mine.” He replied, cryptically. Miguel chuckled.

  
“Fair. Now scoot over. I’m driving.” Miguel stated. Robby shook his head.

“Nah, I am.” Robby replied. Miguel chuckled and rolled his eyes.

  
“Hahaha, that’s a good joke. Now seriously, move over. We need to catch up to the adults fast and no offense but I’m a way better driver.” Miguel stated. Robby remembered Miguel in the go-kart arena around 6 months ago and he eventually moved into the front passenger’s seat. Tory and Sam climbed into the back of the car, and Miguel climbed into the driver’s seat. The teens then took off for San Bernardino…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH   
  
The adults parked a couple of meters away from Kreese’s house, and they quietly turned off the car and got out. They needed to be silent so as not to spook Kreese and let him know they were coming. They all looked at each other and nodded. They had been on enemy sides for so long, but for this fight, they needed to be exactly on the same page.    
  
“Okay, you guys ready?” Daniel asked. They all nodded.    
  
“We’re going to move in fast. Julie, you stay by the front door in case he tries to escape. We’ll all search the main floor together. Jimmy, Bobby, you then take the top floor. Larusso and I will take the basement.” Johnny instructed. As an ex-Air Force operative, he knew exactly how raids worked.

“Let’s catch this son of a bitch.” Bobby growled. Johnny smiled and nodded nervously.   
  
“Damn right.” He replied. The group reached the door and Johnny prepared to kick the door down.   
  
“3… 2… 1…” Johnny murmured, before kicking down the door and leading the group inside…

The house was deathly silent when the group burst inside. The breaking down of the door had rang out like a gunshot, so they knew that they had alerted Kreese of their presence and didn’t have much time.

Before they could split up and search their respective floors, the group immediately heard footsteps coming from the top floor. Their eyes widened. This was it! Kreese was down there! This whole war was about to be over! All of the sacrifice, all of the carnage… it was all going to soon be over!   
  
The group all took off towards the stairs, other than Jimmy who was guarding the door, forgetting their previous instructions. They sprinted up the stairs and burst into the master bedroom. When they got there, their mouths dropped. Rather than seeing Kreese in the room like they expected, what they made their hearts stopped. In the center of the room was a pendulum, that when it hit either side of the room, gave the sound illusion that it was footsteps. Daniel and Johnny’s eyes widened when they realised what was happening.   
  
“JIMMY! KREESE IS COMING TOWARDS YOU!!!!” Johnny shouted, but it was too late. Jimmy was tackled out of nowhere by Kreese, who thankfully didn’t take the time to finish him. Instead, after he severely winded Jimmy from the tackle, he sprinted past him and out of the open door…

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

  
“Okay. The house should be right… here.” Miguel murmured, as they turned onto the street of Kreese’s house. As they got closer, their eyes widened as they saw events unfolding on the front lawn. Kreese sprinted out of the house and into his car, quickly turning on the ignition and driving off before Johnny, Daniel, Bobby and Julie could even make it to the front door of the house. Kreese started driving away from the group, and everyone watched him, alarmed, including the kids in the car.   
  


“NO! He’s getting away!” Sam exclaimed. Miguel clenched his jaw.   
  
“Not for long.” He growled, before flooring the accelerator and speeding away after Kreese.

  
“MIGUEL, SLOW DOWN!!!!” Tory screamed as Miguel weaved his way around the cars on the 3 lane street. One false move and Miguel would surely kill them, crashing them into another car at 120 miles an hour.   
  
“No! He’s not getting away from us this time.” Miguel snapped. “Sam, call the adults…”

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

“DAMN IT!” Johnny shouted, as he kicked the frame of the front door. “We had him! We were inches away! The kids did everything for us by finding him, and we fuck it all up now!”   
  
Suddenly, Daniel’s phone rang and he picked it up to see Sam’s name in the Caller I.D. He answered the phone.

  
“Hey, Sam, now’s not a good time. Kreese somehow got away from us.” Daniel murmured, embarrassed.

  
“Yeah, we know! We’re chasing him right now!” Sam shouted, not trying to be rude to her dad, but shouting was the only way to talk over the incessant honking of the horn they were getting. At least one of the civilians around them had bound to have called the cops, which was great, as the cops would arrest Kreese as well. 

  
Daniel’s jaw dropped and Johnny, having heard that, ran over.

  
“What?! Put Miguel on the phone.” Johnny snapped.    
  
“JOHNNY, I CAN’T TALK RIGHT NOW! I NEED TO CONCENTRATE!” Miguel yelled into the phone.    
  
“Okay, look, don’t risk your lives. If your driving is getting too unsafe, just stop. It’s not the end of the world. We don’t want you getting into a car crash.” Daniel stated.   
  
“Got it.” Sam replied. “Okay, love you, dad.”   
  
“Love you too.” Daniel said, before hanging up the phone. The group turned to each other, both worried and relieved at the same time.   
  
“Guess we just have to wait and watch. We have no idea where they are.” Johnny remarked. Daniel nodded and the group sat down on Kreese’s front lawn, hoping and praying that their kids were all right…


	49. Chapter 49

Miguel's car was slowly gaining on Kreese's, inch by inch getting closer as the two cars swerved around each other. Miguel assumed that Kreese would be trying to get onto the freeway but in fact, he was wrong. With every mile, Kreese drove further and further towards Downtown L.A, and Miguel was forced to follow him. As they sped through a tunnel, Miguel turned to his friends. They were all bouncing around wildly in their seats due to Miguel's maniacal driving.

"Put your seatbelts on, guys!" Miguel exclaimed.

"THEY ARE ON! YOU DRIVE LIKE YOU'RE FUCKING INSANE!" Tory bellowed. Miguel laughed and kept on speeding closer and closer to Kreese. Soon, they arrived in the centre of the city. Kreese drove right on the pavement, smashing through an empty outside cafe and barrelling through all of the chairs and tables in his haste to escape. Miguel groaned in annoyance and followed him deeper into the city. Terrified civilians dived out of the way of the two cars as they skidded through the narrow streets. Eventually, Miguel had managed to corner Kreese in an alley. It was a dead end. There was nowhere for Kreese to go. The 3 teenagers in the passenger seats cheered, thinking the chase was finally over, but Miguel wasn't so sure. The three passengers got out of the car, starting to jog towards Kreese, but Miguel stayed in the car. He was exhausted. All of that precision driving had really taken everything out of him.

Suddenly, the tail lights of Kreese's car lit up, indicating that he was about to reverse. Luckily, Robby, Sam and Tory noticed and they dived out of the way, but Miguel was forced to take the full impact as Kreese reversed and smashed right into the front of Miguel's car. The airbags immediately activated, and Miguel groaned from the impact. However, he had quick enough reflexes to floor the accelerator of his car, causing the two cars to come to a stalemate, the force of both cars pressing against each other in opposite directions cancelling out their movement.

Miguel used this brief opportunity to try and think of a plan. Because of the crash, Kreese's car was in much better shape than Miguel's, and Miguel knew he didn't have longer than a couple of seconds before the car gave out and Kreese smashed past him and away into the city. At this point, not only Tory, Sam and Robby were watching, but a bunch of other gawking civilians too. Miguel slowly closed his eyes and let his Low Latent Inhibition take over. A ton of possible plans flooded through his mind, and his brain automatically picked the best one. Clenching his jaw, he took a deep breath. He had this! He looked behind him and he saw a brick wall, and he looked in front of him and saw Kreese's car. He had only one good choice remaining…

Not trembling anymore but totally calm, Miguel gripped the clutch pedal and suddenly sent the car into a drift around Kreese's. This completely shocked Kreese and didn't let him have the time to lift his foot from the reverse pedal before he went smashing into the wall behind him. Miguel sat back in his car and smiled faintly as he listened to Kreese desperately try to restart his car but after a couple of splutters, the car completely gave out and died.

At that moment, just as Miguel and Kreese were both stepping out of their respective cars, the LAPD showed up. Getting out of the 3 squad cars were not only 6 cops, but also Daniel, Johnny, Jimmy, Bobby and Julie too. Miguel smiled widely, relieved, when he saw them, and he watched as the cops handcuffed Kreese and arrested him. Miguel, still shaken and banged up from the car accident, limping over to Johnny, who put an arm around him.

"You good, kid?" Johnny asked. Miguel nodded and winced as his neck flared from a bit of whiplash.

"Yup. All good." Miguel murmured as he watched Kreese being shoved, handcuffed, into the police car. "I can't believe it. This war's finally over."

Johnny smiled and nodded.

"Yup. It's finally over…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The next morning, Miguel went to go and see his father. If nothing else, he owed the man a thank you. If it wasn't for his father, they NEVER would have found Kreese. As he drove to the prison, Miguel thought to himself. Maybe his father was serious about wanting to be a better man? It might take time, but MAYBE, Miguel could trust him again.

Miguel walked into the extremely familiar visiting centre of the prison, and he walked over to the front desk guard. He smiled at Miguel.

"Hey, man. Who are you here to see?" He asked.

"Um… Rafa Diaz." Miguel replied. The man's face dropped, and he looked down for several moments, before looking back at Miguel.

"I'm really sorry. Mr. Diaz died a couple of days ago from an unexpected heart attack."

Miguel's mouth dropped. He put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe it! He felt his heart begin to pound, and he felt something he never thought he would ever feel towards that man: grief. Miguel felt his legs give out, so he stumbled over to a bench at the corner of the visiting centre. The guard quickly walked over to him and sat next to him.

"I'm really sorry. Are you his family?" The guard asked. Miguel took a deep breath and hesitated before answering. Was that man his father? Obviously he was biologically, but Miguel didn't care about that. He cared about emotionally. His heated conversation with his father from a couple of days ago rang through Miguel's head as he answered…

"Yeah." Miguel replied, wiping a loose tear from his face. "Yeah, I am…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

**Three weeks later…**

"Ayyyyyyy!" Everyone exclaimed as Miguel walked into the restaurant. It had been three weeks since the war was officially over, and Johnny, Miguel, Daniel, Sam, Tory, Robby, Hawk and Demitri decided to all go out together to celebrate at the best pizza place in L.A - a tiny, grubby cafe called Ballotelli's. Miguel was the last to arrive, and he sat at the end of the table between Hawk and Sam.

"Sorry I'm late. Traffic was a real bitch." Miguel murmured.

"All right. If it's okay, I'd like to make a toast." Daniel said, raising his bottle of 7Up in the air. "To all of you teens. It was our fault you were thrown into this mess in the first place, but you handled everything really well, especially towards the end. The sacrifices all of you made for this cause… Just know that Johnny and I are really, really proud of you guys, and we know that you are all going to do great things in life. You showed strength, resilience, determination, respect and class - everything you need to find success in the world. You guys are awesome. We love you. Cheers."

"Cheers!" They all chanted, hitting their cups of pop together. As the group erupted into conversation, Miguel smiled and sat back, looking at the group around him. Although the Karate war had nearly killed him twice, he didn't regret a single moment of it. Because if not for karate, he would have never met his beautiful girlfriend, his stepfather, his stepbrother, all of his friends, and a job at the McLaren factory that he loved. Miguel had never been happier. Life was good…

**A.N**

**So that's it! The story's officially over! It has been a pleasure writing it, and it has been a lot of fun too. I might take a bit of a break from writing, but I will definitely be back with another Cobra Kai story soon (most likely another Miguel centered one - up to you about Miguel/Sam, Miguel/Tory or Miguel/O.C). I have come up with a couple of ideas, and I would love to hear your vote.**

**1) Go back to my old, unfinished story called War of Season 3 (If you haven't read it, be sure to give it a read)**

**2) A Hunger Games kind of story but with the Cobra Kai cast (Miguel and Sam the two tributes from District 12, Johnny the drunk mentor, etc.)**

**3) A plane crash story where Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do and Eagle-Fang all get into a plane crash as they are all headed to Karate National Championships. Lost/Lord of the Flies kind of story**

**4) A classic future love story between Miguel and Sam that occurs when they are both around 26. Miguel (a new-york born guy) is on 30 day vacation from the U.S Navy and Sam is working on her PHD in NYU. On Christmas Eve, there is a massive blizzard and Sam can't fly home to L.A to be with her family. The two of them meet in a bar, and their romance story blossoms from there, as one of them is in the military and one of them is a psychology student**

**5) Any other ideas you might have! I have gotten the ideas above from friends or made them up myself, but I would also love to hear any ideas you might have, both about plot ideas and the characters/shipping in the story. Be sure to drop your vote or your story idea in the comment/review section, or feel free to P.M me to have a chat!**

**See you all soon! I love you guys!**


	50. Chapter 50

_**CHAPTER 50** _

**So, I have decided to choose Option 4, and the first chapter is out now. The story is called "Nice to Meet You". The story summary is this…**

" **Miguel Diaz is on 30 day vacation from the U.S Navy. Samantha Larusso, a child psychiatrist, is stuck in Virginia over Christmas due to bad weather. Little did either of them know that it was actually fate bringing the two together. Cobra Kai Alternate Universe. Miguel/Sam love story but contains a lot of Cobra Kai characters."**

**Please check it out and review/comment with any plot ideas in the story you'd like to see!**


	51. Chapter 51

**Hey, so me again. I'm sorry, I'm sure you guys are sick of all of these polls so I promise this is the last one.**

**I know I already started writing another story called Nice to Meet You (If you haven't read it yet, the first 9 chapters are out so give it a read), but to be honest, I don't know if I'm enjoying it that much. I have some BIG drama and action ideas in future chapters, but I've had to start the story pretty slow and it's kinda slowed down my interest.**

**I wanted your opinion. I have another story option written below. Which would you prefer?**

**1) Option A… I continue with my current story (Nice to Meet You)**

**2) Option B… This other story idea is a Miguel/Tory story that basically replaces Season 1 but includes Tory and all of the other characters who are introduced later in the show. This is the synopsis…**

Johnny Lawrence is an ex-professional fighter who lost everything due to bad gambling and alcohol decisions and moved back to Reseda. Miguel Diaz is a teenager who has also lost everything. His parents passed away when he was 8 years old, and he was dumped in the foster care system ever since. After a LOT of rough situations, by the time he is 16 years old, he has pretty much given up on life. He doesn't give a crap about anything. One night, right after Johnny Lawrence has been fired from his job as a handyman, he goes down to the mini mart where he sees four teeangers pushing around another teen. Johnny is about to intervene when suddenly, something in the lone teenager snaps and the kid (Miguel) beats up the four guys. That's when Johnny realises… this could be his way out of his slump! If he managed to convince the mysterious teenager to trust him, both of them could pull their lives out of the gutter together. And to do that, Johnny needed to reopen the Cobra Kai dojo…

**So which should I do? Option A or Option B? Continue with the current story or put it on hiatus and start this new one?**


End file.
